Take a moment right now to notice your breath.
Is it deep and full?
Or shallow and stuck high in your chest?
Most of us spend our days breathing only a fraction of our capacity,
And we don't even realize it.
But your breath is more effective and powerful than you think.
When you're breathing fully,
Engaging your diaphragm,
And using the entire capacity of the lungs,
It's like unlocking a hidden reserve of energy,
Focus,
And calm.
As Swami Satyananda Saraswati taught,
The lungs are designed to hold about 5 liters of air.
But most of us are only exchanging a small portion with each breath,
About 1 liter,
Leaving stale air trapped in the lower lungs,
Missing out on the full oxygenation our bodies crave.
This practice will help you reconnect with your natural,
Full breath.
We're going to explore the three main sections of breathing,
The belly,
The chest,
And the collarbones,
So you can experience how each contributes to the whole.
By isolating them first,
You'll gain a felt sense of where your breath naturally flows,
And where it might be restricted.
Then,
When we're bringing them together into a complete yogic breath,
You'll feel the difference.
This is more than just a technique.
It's learning to breathe fully as a foundational skill for life and all other breathing techniques.
Calming the nervous system,
Improving energy flow,
And preparing your body for deeper breathwork and meditation.
So find a comfortable seated position,
Cross-legged on the floor or in hero's pose.
You could also sit in a chair if you like,
With your feet firmly planted.
Sit tall,
Allowing your spine to lengthen naturally.
Feel your head gently stacking over your shoulders,
And your shoulders over your hips.
This posture gives your diaphragm and lungs space to move fully.
So let's begin.
Place one hand on your lower abdomen.
As you inhale,
Feel your belly expand outward like a balloon filling with air.
As you exhale,
Let your belly gently draw back towards your spine.
Keep your chest and shoulders still,
And let your belly do the work of breathing here,
Continuing to breathe in and out,
Feeling the belly rise and fall.
This is your diaphragm doing most of the work.
Diaphragmatic breathing,
The foundation of a full breath.
This is where the largest exchange of air happens,
Drawing fresh oxygen deep into the lower lobes of your lungs.
Take a few cycles here,
Breathing in through the nose,
Filling all the way up,
Allowing your belly to expand,
And then out through your mouth,
Relaxing.
Again,
Try to keep this movement isolated to the belly,
Not letting your chest expand and open,
And collapse on the inhale and exhale so much.
Right now,
We're just trying to isolate each section so you can feel how it affects breathing as a whole.
So now let's move on to the next one,
Chest breathing.
Now move your hand onto your chest over your sternum.
As you inhale,
Allow your chest to gently expand,
Your ribs opening outward.
And as you exhale,
Feel your chest soften and the ribs drop back in.
This engages the middle section of your lungs,
Supporting your breath as it rises from the belly.
Notice how this feels different from belly breathing,
How there's another area of expansion,
Of space being created in the vacuum of your lungs.
It's a smaller movement,
There's less volume,
But it still contributes to the whole and is an important part of the full breath.
Try breathing here for a few cycles,
Just letting the chest move more so than the belly.
So breathing in the lungs and the chest,
And allowing your awareness to feel how much air gets moved by this rounding of the shoulders and then broadening of the chest.
Rounding of the shoulders as you exhale and broadening of the chest as you inhale.
Finally,
Bring your hands to your collarbones or gently rest them on your shoulders.
Inhale and allow a subtle lift in your collarbones and upper chest,
Almost as if you're shrugging.
As you exhale,
Let your shoulders relax back down.
This area holds the least volume of air,
But contributes to the whole as well,
Like topping off a glass of water.
It's the final part in a full yogic breath.
Again,
Try to isolate this area from the belly and chest,
Just raising your shoulders and lowering them,
From raising your collarbones and lowering them,
And feeling how this movement creates a little bit of suction in the vacuum of your lung space and your chest cavity when you raise it up,
And collapses that little bit of space when you allow your collarbones and shoulders to drop again.
Now let's bring this all together into one full breath.
So take a regular breath in through your nose,
Filling up,
And then letting it go,
Relaxing,
A full exhale,
Gently drawing your belly in.
And on your next inhale,
Expand the belly,
Filling up,
Allow the chest to rise,
And finish with a gentle lift of the collarbones.
On the exhale,
Reversing the flow,
Relaxing the collarbones,
Relaxing the chest,
And drawing the belly in with a very light tightening of the core.
Breathing like a wave,
Smooth,
Connected,
And flowing from the bottom to the top,
And back down again,
Taking a few cycles at your own pace here,
Noticing how your body feels,
How the breath feels when you're moving all three sections and they're working in harmony.
The more you practice this full yogic breath,
The more it patterns this full,
Natural breathing into your day-to-day breath,
Which results in a more efficient use of your lungs,
More oxygen to the brain and organs,
And more ease in your day.
Now just letting your breath return to its natural rhythm.
Feel how your belly,
Chest,
And shoulders seem more open,
Your breath more spacious.
This is the foundation of true,
Full yogic breathing.
With regular practice,
You'll reawaken your body's natural ability to breathe fully and deeply.
This simple shift changes everything,
Your energy,
Your focus,
And your presence.
So go ahead and take one last deep inhale,
Filling all the way up,
Filling the belly,
Chest,
And collarbones,
And then exhale fully,
Releasing.
Good job.
I'll see you in the next one.
Namaste.
