Ouija breathing

As I’ve said before, yoga has many benefits that relate to life — stress management and relaxation are a couple of those benefits. I have learned to find a deep relaxation with yoga breathing, even when I am not doing yoga. Of course deep breathing relaxation exercises are common for managing stress, so this should come as no surprise.

Breathe In

In yoga, you want to breathe in through the nose. You should avoid belly breathing and rather expand your chest to open your lungs. When you are engaging your core, it is impossible to belly breathe. In vinyasa yoga the breath moves with the poses. When a pose is difficult, you will often find you hold your breath. As in life, the difficult times require you to keep breathing when the instinct is the opposite.

The Exhalation

It is important to breathe out through the nose (not the mouth), and it makes a sound–much like fogging up glass. The heavy breathing in yoga class must seem unusual to someone new to the practice. Ouija breathing, this forceful exhalation, improves oxygen consumption while creating warmth in the body.

This breath helps push more air out of the lungs. This really allows a dramatic release of tension. It feels a bit like ‘blowing off steam’, and it is an amazing breathing relaxation technique.

Cleansing breaths are common during yoga practice. There is a sighing sound created while exhaling through the mouth. Often these sighs are cued just after more difficult poses. This translates well to life in that it is best to really sigh to let go when experiencing something difficult.

It is natural for me to use deep breathing relaxation methods throughout my day without even realizing it. Yoga has helped to train my automatic behavior. I find myself taking deeper breaths as needed without consciously initiating them. I also catch myself when I am holding my breath, and redirect myself to some deep breathing.

I’ve heard yoga instructors say that a single, conscious breath makes a yoga practice. This allows the stress management benefits from yoga to bleed over into life. You will enjoy the fact that relaxation with yoga breathing becomes automatic over time. Yoga just may be the only breathing relaxation technique you need.