The Power Of The Breath And Pranayama Practice

This is the Yoga Off the Mat podcast.

A space you can learn how to deepen your connection with yourself to live a fulfilled,

Passionate,

And authentic life using the lessons from the mat.

I'm your guide,

Host,

And teacher,

Amber Hackberg,

And I'm here to inspire you to take time for yourself so that you can embody the practice of yoga and live your yoga on and off the mat.

Hello and welcome.

Welcome to the Yoga Off the Mat podcast with Amber Hackberg.

I am so excited today for episode number 13.

We are going to dive into a potent tool that you have with you every single moment of the day.

It's just a matter of if you're bringing your yoga practice,

Your awareness to this tool.

I'm wondering if you're thinking about it now,

And if not,

The power of your breath.

Do you know how potent it is to breathe more and to breathe deeper?

Think about it.

When we're crying hysterically,

When we're angry,

When we're tense,

When we're holding in,

We're not breathing.

We're storing that emotion,

That experience into our body.

And the more that we breathe,

The more alive that we feel.

It also allows us to process,

Store,

Stuck,

Entrapped emotions.

When we bring our awareness to the breath,

We actually create more life within us.

Without your breath,

There is no life.

And if you're going through a troubling time,

You're feeling angry,

You're feeling irritable,

You're on edge,

Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths to come back to your center.

It seems easy at times,

Right?

Like,

Oh,

All I have to do is breathe.

The challenging part is in those moments of intensity,

How can I remember my breath?

How can you remember to take a deeper breath when things get intense?

Did you know that 70 to 90%,

Depending on which study you're looking into,

Actually the toxins leave through your body?

It's not through going to the bathroom,

It's not through sweat.

70 to 90% of the toxins we have in our bodies leave through the breath.

Can you imagine what would happen if you committed to a 15-day or 30-day breathing exercise routine?

The benefits are profound.

Your breath is unlimited.

There's so many benefits to breathing.

And the reason I'm even bringing this topic up today is I'm in the group coaching program with my women the other day and we went through this pranayama exercise routine and the joy on their faces,

The serenity and calmness that they felt as we dropped into meditation,

You could see it in their faces.

The joy,

The connection.

And even some of them messaged me the next morning and was like,

Oh my gosh,

Amber,

I slept so good last night.

And that's when I was like,

We need to breathe more.

We need to bring our awareness more to the breath.

And I always knew the power of the breath.

But sometimes we forget.

We forget to breathe.

And when we're like,

Oh yeah,

Just take a couple of deep breaths.

The breath gives you the ability to pause.

So rather than reacting in a moment of stress or frustration,

Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths,

Feeling overwhelmed or like you have a lot of pressure or weight on your shoulders where you're in the fight or flight.

Close your eyes,

Take a few deep breaths.

It allows us to shift into the parasympathetic nervous system,

Which is rest and digest.

Breathing allows us to reduce stress and anxiety.

Not only that,

But it boosts our energy.

It makes us feel more alive and it gives us more stamina.

Think about runners,

The endurance that they build with their breath over time.

It's the same thing that we can do with breathing exercises over time.

The more that we breathe,

The more alive that we feel,

The more confidence we can have.

What I love also about pranayama is that it allows us to focus.

It brings more awareness into the present moment when we drop into meditation after a breathing exercise.

Or it brings more focus when we move throughout our day,

When instead of thinking about this and that and there and then and now and the mind being on all over these places,

If you're aware of your breath,

You're present.

The power of the breath also has the ability to move through things in your body.

If you're in a yoga practice or you're in a breathing exercise and you're breathing deeply,

You may have an emotional or energetic release where you start crying or you just all of a sudden feel this weight lifted off of your shoulders because there's been this toxic,

Toxic,

Is that a word,

This toxic release out of your body where you've let something go energetically through your breath.

When we practice breathing exercises,

We get to strengthen our connection to our mind,

To our body.

And when we're focusing on our breath,

It's hard to be somewhere else.

When we're meditating,

We have a dharma,

A focus point,

And then the mind starts to do what it does.

It thinks and it takes us away from our focal point.

It takes us away from the dharma.

But when we're in our pranayama breathing exercises and we're counting to four,

Holding the breath for one,

And we have this awareness on what we're doing with the breath,

It allows us to become more focused.

And when we become more focused,

When we're more present,

We are allowing the body to move deeper and deeper into the parasympathetic nervous system,

Which is responsible for the rest and the digest,

Which produces relaxation.

And it allows us to be more mindful because here we are present and aware of the breath.

If you look at all of the benefits of breathing,

There are so many.

It enhances our ability to breathe more,

So it expands our lung capacity.

It's also said to help with high blood pressure or strengthen the ability of your brain,

So being more focused.

There's so many benefits of the breath,

But I think of the breath of life.

Your breath is life.

Without the breath,

You are not here.

And it's this beautiful tool that you have to use.

At any given moment to produce relaxation,

To eliminate stress and anxiety,

And allow you to be more present in the mundane moments of your day.

My invitation for you is,

As you move throughout your day,

See how long you can stay with your breath.

Did you know that you have around 70,

000 thoughts,

70,

000 thoughts a day,

And 90% of those thoughts are repeated?

I'm going to say it again.

70,

000 thoughts,

It's 50 to 70,

000 thoughts a day,

Depending on the person,

And about 90% of those thoughts are repeated.

When you start to strengthen your presence and awareness of your day-to-day moments with your breath,

You have more control over the thoughts that you have.

Your thoughts create your reality.

What you think becomes what you say.

What you say becomes what you do.

When you bring your awareness to this tool,

The breath,

You get to become more aware of what you think,

What you say,

And what you do.

So if you think about this,

Take a big step back,

Your breath gives you the power to consciously create your life.

Do you want to feel more alive?

Do you want to feel less stressed?

Do you want to release old store stuff trauma in your body that's no longer serving you?

If you're like me,

You're like,

Yes,

Please.

I want to grow deeper into myself.

And if we look at this and at the aspect of like,

How is this helping me to live my yoga?

If you can make a commitment to yourself to be more aware of your breath,

You're going to be a less stressed,

More happy,

More alive human being.

And as you are,

The people around you are going to be like,

Wow,

She's bright.

He's bright.

You're energetic.

You become contagious because your body is more alive.

More energy is flowing through you.

And there's this connection to power,

The power of being alive to consciously create who you're becoming.

And it all starts with what you think.

So if throughout the day you're like,

I'm with my breath while I do the dishes,

I'm with my breath.

When I'm driving to work,

I'm with my breath.

When I'm here in a conversation with someone in my life,

I'm aware of my breath.

I'm aware of my life as I'm present with what's going on outside of me.

Can you think of a time where you were out of breath and maybe you started to feel light headed or dizzy?

A time where you're like,

It's just hard to breathe.

And so what I think about this is like,

How can we expand?

How can we feel more life?

Breathe deeper.

Breathe more.

There's so much power when you connect to that life force that exists inside of you.

And I hope this is resonating where you're like,

Yeah,

My breath.

So many of the women that graduate my program,

It's like one of their biggest takeaways is like,

I didn't realize how powerful the breath was and that this tool I have is always there with me.

And you can teach it to your children,

Teach it to your friends,

To your family.

Like stressed.

Are you breathing right now?

Are you breathing all the way down deep into your stomach or is it short and shallow?

Most of the time we're breathing into our chest and not using our full lung capacity.

So we have these short and shallow breaths.

When you commit to a consistent daily breath practice,

Even if it's five minutes,

You are going to breathe more throughout the day naturally.

I'll say that again,

When you practice a pranayama breathing exercise practice daily,

Even if that's just for five minutes,

You will breathe more throughout your day.

So if you struggle with fatigue,

Stress,

Worry,

Fear,

Breathe more,

Commit to a daily breathing exercise practice.

And just in a few moments,

I'm going to share with you a breathing exercise routine that you can do,

But you can also head into my Facebook group,

Www.

Facebook.

Com slash group slash yoga for inner peace.

I'll link that in the show notes where I have tons of different breathing exercises for you.

And if you're feeling really inspired by this podcast and you know someone that could breathe more,

Share it in your social media.

Give it to a friend.

Let people know more about this simple tool that's so profound and so deep because the more of us that breathe,

The more alive that we feel,

The more energetic,

Energetic that we are,

The more connected to ourselves and the world around us.

Today,

I want to take you through a short breathing exercise practice.

If you are on the road or at work,

Unless you are on a break,

Come back to this.

And if you can come into a seated position,

Preferably up onto a bolster,

A cushion,

A pillow or yoga mat,

I want you to elevate your hips higher than your knees so that your pelvis slightly tips forward,

Knees bent,

One ankle in front of the other.

Place your hands onto your thighs.

Close your eyes.

Soften your face.

Soften your jaw and take three deep breaths.

We'll move through the three part yogic breath.

Inhale three parts of your body.

Inhale,

Chest.

Inhale a little more,

Rib cage.

Inhale all the way to the bottom.

And then exhale.

Let's fill the belly in,

Soften the rib cage,

Empty out your lungs completely,

Chest softens.

I'll repeat it again and then I'll guide us through it.

Let's inhale just a little bit,

Chest lifts.

Inhale a little more,

Rib cage inflates.

Inhale all the way,

Belly up like a balloon,

Fill up.

And then when you exhale,

Empty the balloon in the belly a little bit more,

Rib cage all the way out,

Chest softens.

So let's flow through that together for a few rounds and then on your own.

Soften into natural breathing.

Inhale,

Chest.

Inhale a little more,

Rib cage.

Inhale into your belly,

Hold.

Exhale belly.

Inhale a little more,

Rib cage.

Exhale all the way out,

Soft.

Inhale chest.

Inhale rib cage.

Inhale to your stomach,

Lower.

Exhale belly.

Rib cage,

Chest.

Continue on your own.

Taking a breath in through three parts,

Chest,

Rib cage,

Belly,

Exhale out,

Belly,

Rib cage,

Chest.

Inhale,

Chest.

Inhale,

Chest.

Exhale in,

Empty out completely.

When you think you've exhaled all the breath out,

Exhale just a little bit more.

Come back to your natural breathing.

As you begin to slightly restrict the backside of your throat to connect to the ujjayi breath,

Feel the breath in the back of the throat as you're slightly restricted.

It's going to be this humming sensation as you now begin to hear your breath like you hear the sound of the ocean waves.

Inhale and exhale through your nose with a slight restriction of your throat.

And that's it from ujjayi breath.

Keep the restriction as you start to count your breath with samovaritti breathing.

Exhale for four counts,

Pause at the top.

On your next inhale,

Increase to five counts in.

Pause at the top,

Exhale for five counts.

Pause at the bottom and repeat if you need to stay at four,

Please do.

On your next inhale,

If you're capable,

Increase to six counts in.

Hold six counts out.

Notice if you're naturally doing the part yogic breath as you intertwine some of the breath into the chest,

Ribcage and belly.

If not,

That's okay too,

Just something to become aware of if it's helped to increase your expansion of breath as you continue to count breath in and out equally for samovaritti.

With a slight restriction of your throat for ujjayi.

On your next exhale,

Release out.

When you think you've exhaled all the way out,

Exhale a little more and return back to your natural breathing.

Let go of ujjayi,

Let go of counting and simply just be here.

Notice if the line is quiet,

If you feel calmer,

Notice the effects of the breath practice.

As you sit,

Becoming aware of where your breath is now,

Where your breathing is without trying to control it.

Is the breath long,

Extended,

Short and shallow,

Somewhere in between?

Place your hands in front of your heart,

Palms together,

Bow in just a moment of gratitude for the breath,

For this moment.

You may continue to sit here or grab your journal and write,

But as you move throughout your day,

Stay connected to your breath and aware of your breath as long as you can.

And when you're ready,

You can release your palms,

Open your eyes.

My hope today is that you remember the power of your breath and when you bring your awareness to that which is your life,

You have the ability to control and create your reality,

How you feel,

What you focus on and your ability to be present and more alive in your life off the mat and more connected to that space and place inside of you where peace and purpose and passion and joy always exists.

You're just one breath away from that deeper connection to you.

Your life.

Your life is your breath.

Thank you for being here and listening.

If you got a lot of benefit out of this,

Please head over to iTunes,

Leave me a five star review,

Share it with your friends and let the message of the breath be shared with those who need it.

I will see you on the next episode.

Thank you today for tuning in and I will chat with you next time.

And I want to thank you.

I really appreciate you tuning in and listening to this podcast.

It's an honor to know that people are listening and gaining value while generating their own insight.

For more actionable tools and practices,

Head over to my Facebook group,

Www.

Facebook.

Com slash groups slash yoga for inner peace to learn more practices that you can put into your toolbox to reduce stress,

Build confidence and create a community of other women who are like you wanting to better their lives to better their communities.

Thank you again for being here.

And if you're on social,

Post a photo of you listening to this and tag me Amber Hackberg so we can hang out online and continue growing this relationship first from the inside and then from the outside.

I'll see you on the next episode.