Dejan Kupnik, M.D.
Centre for Emergency Medicine – Prehospital Unit, Maribor/Slovenia, Europe
(certified Joga in Daily Life teacher)
Most people do not breathe in the right way. So it is our first task, before starting any breathing exercises, to learn how to breathe correctly. Any exaggeration or performance of advanced levels of pranayama when the body has not been prepared, can cause breathing difficulties and uncomfortable symptoms and signs, such as nervousness, shortness of breath, unstable blood pressure, “nervous heart” (tachycardia) and many more.
The basis of all yoga breathing techniques is the complete or full breath when, during inhalation our belly expands first, followed by the chest, and during exhalation our chest then belly relax passively. This way we are able to use our main breathing muscle, the diaphragm, to full effect, inhaling larger quantities of air. From these extended movements of the diaphragm, abdominal organs are massaged, and blood circulation and digestion processes are improved. During inhalation the pressure in the abdominal cavity increases, quickening the flow of blood towards the heart and lungs, thereby strengthening these vital organs.
By performing breathing exercises in a reclining position we can improve the awareness of our breathing and learn more effectively the right way to breathe. A few weeks are enough for the body to adapt to the new breathing patterns and we soon experience the body breathing in the correct way, without needing to influence it deliberately. Our conscious effort establishes new, improved and complete subconscious breathing activities and these can be considered the foundations of evolution itself. Throughout evolution many battles are fought on the fields of survival and only the best and most adaptable organisms survive. Every new function that assists survival is incorporated in the organism. In other words, they originate in the initial plane of the conscious struggle, but then pass gradually into the subconscious, allowing progress to continue in other fields of life without being concerned with firmly established physiological functions.
When we are in an upright position there is much better blood flow through the lower parts of the lungs, but if we perform breathing exercises in the recumbent position, hydrostatic pressures equalize throughout the lungs and this improves the blood flow in all lung regions, thus allowing the body to take up more oxygen during inhalation. So these type of breathing exercises (performed lying on the floor), which are also the basic breathing exercises in the Yoga in Daily Life® system, are highly recommended immediately after practising individual asanas (physical yoga exercises or postures) because they increase the supply of oxygen to the body and enable the body to cope better with the temporary lack of oxygen experienced during the asana. They also allow us to exhale larger quantities of carbon dioxide produced during exercising.
Only when the new patterns of breathing are established can we proceed with further techniques of pranayama, and here again the rule applies that we progress gradually from the easiest towards more advanced techniques. One must not forget that the body needs time to adapt and that we should be free of all tension or discomfort during the exercise. Practising pranayama lowers respiratory rate, increases vital capacity, improves exhalation and increases the ability to hold the breath for longer periods.
There are health limitations to the practising of some pranayama techniques but nadi sodhan pranayama, the pranayama technique most often studied, can be practised more or less by everyone.
(This text is provided by Stempel)