Nearly all of the breathing exercises in the practice of yoga involve breathing through the nose. Breathing through the nose helps you take in more fresh oxygen. Breathing through the nose also helps in situations of cold weather, dehydration and laryngitis and when your throat is dry and sore, as it does not further dry out your throat (like breathing through your mouth does).
Deep Abdominal Breathing
Deep abdominal breathing is the way people naturally breathe when sleeping at night. It involves inhaling through the nose and allowing your stomach to rise and fill up with air. Your stomach naturally deflates when you exhale. Though this is the natural way of breathing, due to stress, many people actually pull their stomach in when they breathe in and release it when they exhale. To practice deep abdominal breathing, lay down on your back. You can place your hands or even a book onto your stomach and try to make it rise as you inhale and fall as you exhale.
Alternate Nostril Breathing
Called anuloma viloma in Sanskrit (the ancient Indian language of yoga), Yoga Journal reports that alternate nostril breathing helps enhance your overall vitality and well-being. It corrects any negative breathing habits you may have while helping you balance using both sides of your brain. To do this breathing exercise, start by lifting your right arm, bending it at the elbow and bringing your hand close to your nose. Then bend your index and middle fingers, gently pushing them against the palm of your hand. During alternate nostril breathing, you will use your thumb to close your right nostril and your ring finger to close your left nostril.
Sitting in a cross-legged position, close the right nostril with your thumb and release your left nostril to inhale on the left side for about 3 seconds. Then close your left nostril and release the right to exhale on your right side for about 6 seconds. Then inhale on your right side for 3 seconds, switching nostrils again and exhaling on the left side for 6 seconds. Repeat this exercise 3 times.
Kapalabhati Breathing Exercise
According to the Sivananda Yoga Teachers Training Manual, kapalabhati literally translates to "skull-shining," and helps cleanse your nasal and respiratory passage. This breathing exercise also increases the strength of your abdomen and heart.
Sitting in a cross-legged position, inhale actively, allowing your belly to expand. Then slowly rhythmically contract and relax your abdomen 20 times to exhale and passively inhale 20 times in a row through your nose. Each active inhalation should be as energetic and short as possible; each passive inhalation should take about 1 second. Make sure that when your abdomen comes in, the air gets pushed out and that your inhalation is effortless and noiseless. Breathe comfortably for a few seconds after finishing the exercise.
References
- Sivananda Yoga Teachers Training Manual; Swami Vishnu-devananda; 2000
- Yoga Journal: Breathing Lessons
