Breathwork For Energizing

Welcome to your pranayama breathwork practice.

Pranayama is an ancient yogic practice that involves controlling the breath including the timing,

The frequency,

The duration of the breath and the goal is to connect your mind and your body and to supply your body with as much nourishing oxygen as possible while removing toxins and improving the flow of prana or life force energy.

So to begin I'll have you come into a comfortable seat.

As you come into that comfortable seat allow your eyes to fall shut and just begin to notice your natural breath.

We'll begin by working into ujjayi pranayama which is known as victorious breath because this technique is supposed to be victorious over our thinking mind.

It has a lot of other benefits including helping to lengthen the breath,

Strengthen the lungs and the diaphragm and induce a calming so that you're soothed.

As you come into some natural breaths just noticing the depth and the rhythm and the rate of those breaths.

Begin to tone the base of your throat slightly so that you start to notice a bit of a sound on the inhale and the exhale.

With that light tone at the base of the throat you'll find a slow ujjayi breath.

The breath will naturally elongate as you come into ujjayi because the pathway that the air flows in the throat has now narrowed like breathing through a straw.

Notice the sound on the in-breath is very similar to the sound on the out-breath.

Balancing these breaths out we'll start to inhale for a five count and exhale for a six.

We'll increase that to ten counts inhale and ten counts exhale.

I'll guide you through the whole thing.

So breathe all the way out.

Breathing in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

In one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Out six,

Five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Three,

Two,

One.

In seven,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Out seven,

Six,

Five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

In eight,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight,

Out eight,

Seven,

Six,

Five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

In nine,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight,

Nine,

Out nine,

Eight,

Seven,

Six,

Five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

In ten,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight,

Nine,

Ten,

Out ten,

Nine,

Eight,

Seven,

Six,

Five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

And one.

Take a natural breath in and out.

And let it go and just notice how you feel.

The next practice will be an inhale to ten,

Just like you did,

But at the top we'll hold the breath in.

When you hold the breath,

Lightly lift your pelvic floor.

This is called mula bandha.

And also bring your chin to your chest,

Jalandhara bandha.

As you're holding the breath in and maintaining these bandhas,

It will keep the energy in circulation throughout the torso.

We'll hold the breath for five,

And when you exhale,

Releasing your bandhas,

Opening the mouth,

Maybe sticking out your tongue even for a lion's breath.

It will be a five count out.

So let's give this a shot.

Find a tall spine,

Relax your hands at your lap,

Empty your breath completely,

And let's begin.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight,

Nine,

Ten.

Hold one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five.

Release out five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Again,

In two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight,

Nine,

And ten.

Hold one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five.

Release and exhale five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

And one.

Last time in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight,

Nine,

Ten.

Hold one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five.

Let it go five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

And one.

Now take a natural breath in and out.

Feel those undercurrents of energy swirling a bit differently in your body-mind complex.

Now just continue to breathe naturally as you listen for the instructions for the next pranayama.

It's called Bhastrika,

And it's known as bellows breath.

It's a heating breathing practice that mimics like fanning a fire with a steady flow of air.

Think of the word bellows and how the bellows pumps air over hot coals to increase heat.

So this pranayama,

It stokes the inner fire of the body and the mind,

Supporting digestion on all levels and helping to burn up toxins in the body and the mind,

Cleanse and rejuvenate the lungs,

Tones the heart,

Bronchial tree,

Diaphragm,

And abdomen,

And infuses the blood with so much oxygen.

So you'll feel a little bit more awakened and energized after this pranayama.

It sounds a lot like a dog panting.

I'll demonstrate.

In this pranayama,

You'll be pumping your belly actively on both inhale and exhale.

So a quick breath in through the nose will push the diaphragm down into the belly,

Which causes the belly to extend,

And then a quick exhale forcefully drawing the navel back towards the spine,

Emptying the lungs,

Toning the low abdomen.

We will do three rounds of 10 pumps followed by a hold of 15 seconds at the top of each.

Let's get started.

You can match the sound of my breath or you can move at your own speed,

But this is going to be a moderate speed for Bhastrika.

Empty your lungs.

Begin.

Big breath in.

Hold.

And let it go.

Round two.

Moderate Bhastrika,

10 pumps.

Empty your breath and begin.

Breathe all the way in.

Hold at the top.

And let it go.

Final round.

Bhastrika.

Empty your breath and begin.

Big breath in.

Hold.

Let it go.

Just be still.

Just feel.

Just be still.

Just feel.

And now shifting your attention to a breath count once again to balance our energy before we go off into the rest of the day.

We'll notice that the breath has four different segments,

An inhale,

A pause,

An exhale,

And a pause.

And we'll do box breathing.

So we will inhale for four,

Hold for four,

Exhale for four,

Hold for four.

Let's begin.

Breathing in one,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Hold one,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Out four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Hold one,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Hold one,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Out four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Hold one,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Final round.

In two,

Three,

Four.

Hold one,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Out four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Hold one,

Two,

Three,

And four.

Good.

Bring your hands together in front of your heart and just drop your chin forward,

Just a gesture of humbling your busy mind to your wise old heart.

I hope this Pranayama practice has helped you feel reinvigorated,

Rejuvenated,

Alive,

And ready for the day.

Or if this was a practice that you did midday when you were feeling that slump,

Then I hope it's helped to revitalize you and you feel ready for the rest of the day today.

Thank you so much for allowing me to lead you through that practice.

Namaste.