In yogic thinking, breathing exercises, also known as pranayama, control the universal life energy within every person. Focusing on the natural rhythmic process where the lungs contract and expand may help to improve mind, body and spirit connection as well as overall health.
Abdominal Breathing
The American Medical Student Association suggests that breathing exercises should be done several times a day whenever there is mental or emotional upset. Find a comfortable seated position. Place one hand on your chest and one on the abdomen. Breathing in deeply, notice and allow your stomach to expand out higher than your chest. Exhale out of your mouth. Breathe in again for 7 seconds with your abdominal region expanding and slowly exhale for the count of 8. Repeat this for a total of 5 rounds. Try to build up to a pattern where the exhalations are twice as long as the inhalations. When you feel comfortable, try speaking words that relax you for every inhalation and words that will help you to release with every exhalation.
Bellows Breathing
Bellows breathing technique helps to stimulate the body. Sit in a comfortable upright position with the spine straight. Gently close your mouth and breath rapidly in and out of your nose. Both the inhalation and exhalation are equal in length. Force the exhalation out of your belly and the inhalation will naturally follow. Do this rapidly, but do not do bellows breathing for more than 15 seconds when you are first trying it out. As you feel more comfortable, extend each round by 5 seconds. If at any time you feel light headed, discontinue and lie down.
Same Action Breathing
A founding principle of yoga is pranayama, or control of the breath. "Yoga Journal" notes that samavrtti, or same action breath, is the basis for all pranayamas and can be done during a physical yoga practice. Do this practice by relaxing your body completely and observe the nature of your breath. Notice any tensions that exist in your body and try to breath into them. Now begin to deeply inhale and exhale. Count your inhales in the beginning to match the length of your exhales. Once they are equal in length, allow the inhale to naturally turn into the exhale in one gentle rhythm. This type of breathing may help relax and improve the nervous system, which can affect overall function of the entire body.
Victorious Breath
Another type of pranayama is ujjayi, or victorious breath. This type of breathing is commonly done throughout a yoga practice. The sound of ujjayi breathing often resembles the sound of the ocean. It is done by constricting the back of your throat so that the inhalations and exhalations have a slight voice. According to "Yoga Journal," the tone of your voice is your teacher -- the more smooth it sounds the more fluid your breath is.
