What are the key points of yoga abdominal breathing?

Yoga is a relatively casual sport that is a perfect combination of movement and breathing. What should we pay attention to when doing yoga abdominal breathing? How to achieve better fitness results. We will introduce them to you one by one. Many people are practicing yoga now. This sport is not restricted by venue and is of interest to many people who love sports.

1. Purpose and function

The purpose of yoga breathing is to use various breathing methods (determined according to the individual's physical and mental conditions).

It effectively massages the internal organs, stimulates the benign secretions of various physiological glands, activates the potential power of the meridians and wheels (which may also be equivalent to the meridians and acupoints in traditional Chinese medicine), better cleanses the body, and thus lays the foundation for higher-level spiritual cultivation and spiritual development.

On the contrary, if there is a problem with breathing, the body's circulatory system, digestive system, and excretory system will be affected. A large amount of toxins will accumulate in various parts of the body and become the source of disease. (The entire breathing technique is practiced while sitting cross-legged, unless otherwise specified.) [1]

2 Classification and introduction

The breathing advocated by yoga is to use the entire lungs to breathe, inhaling sufficient cosmic energy through the lungs to supply the body, promoting blood circulation in the heart and sending energy to various parts of the body through the blood flow. It gently massages the organs in the chest and abdomen, enhancing their functions, allowing the body and mind to fully relax, with obvious benefits for physical and mental health. Correct yoga practice must start with breathing exercises, not with asanas. There are several main methods of correct yoga breathing: [2]

Classification by part

Basically, breathing is divided into abdominal breathing, chest breathing, abdominal-thoracic complete breathing, and single-nostril meridian clearing breathing.

Abdominal breathing - breathe from the bottom of the lungs, and feel only the abdomen expanding while the chest remains relatively still.

Thoracic breathing - breathing with the upper and middle part of the lungs, feeling the chest expanding and contracting, while the abdomen remains relatively still.

Complete breathing - the upper, middle and lower parts of the lungs are all involved in the breathing movement. The abdomen, chest and even the whole body feel like they are rising and falling and expanding and contracting.

Abdominal breathing

Yogic breathing[1]

Fitness benefits: It is a basic breathing method. Breathe slowly and consciously using your abdominal muscles. Place your hands on your abdomen and you can feel the movement of your abdomen. Concentrate your consciousness and the energy in your hands can be transferred to your abdomen.

Action essentials:

1. Make a triangle with your thumbs and index fingers and place it at the center of your navel.

2. Place your hands on your abdomen, breathe in slowly through both nostrils, relax your abdomen, and feel the air being sucked into your abdomen. Your hands can feel your abdomen rising higher and higher. In fact, the diaphragm is descending, pressing the air into the bottom layer of the abdomen. As you exhale, slowly contract your abdominal muscles, raising your diaphragm and pushing the air out of your lungs. The exhalation time is twice as long as the inhalation time.

Chest breathing

Fitness effect: It is a breathing method that can clear the mind and activate the body. Although you breathe through a single nostril, you still have to breathe at the prescribed speed.

Action essentials:

Shut up. Exhale in short, forceful bursts through both nostrils. Just like making sound from a steam engine, inhale naturally and exhale once per second.

Full Breathing

Fitness effect: Make the abdomen, chest, shoulders and throat consciously use this breathing method, as well as the lower, middle and upper parts of the lungs. During the practice, you will feel the energy trapped in your lungs being released, and at the same time, fresh energy filling your lungs. Action essentials:

1. Exhale completely. Slowly breathe in into your abdomen, as if you want to inflate it. Lift the air in your belly up into your chest. Next. As you inhale, lift your shoulders and bring the air into your throat.

2. Let your abdomen slowly deflate, shrink your chest, lower your shoulders, and exhale. [2]

Breathing Bandha

The most important point: When practicing yoga breathing techniques, you must combine them with the corresponding contraction techniques (Ponda). Otherwise, the energy in the body brought by breathing will become chaotic and disordered and damage the nervous system. The choice of yoga breathing method must also be based on the actual individual situation of the learner (physical condition, personality and emotional state), which requires the yoga teacher to have rich yoga experience and insight. Introduction to basic bandha method:

The purpose of convergence is: first, to avoid energy chaos and dissipation, second, to transport energy to the required parts, and third, to stimulate special glands and awaken related chakras.

Closing method:

There are three main types of breathing techniques:

1. Chin bandha method: During the breathing process, always keep the chin against the sternum (it is better to lift the chest to combine with the falling chin rather than pressing the chin down to the chest). The ribs should be lifted, and the head, sternum, navel and thighs should be in the midline.

2. Bandha Bandha: Vertically contract the center area between the anus and genitals, while pressing the front of the lower abdomen and below the navel toward the upper back.

3. Abdominal contraction: It is usually performed while exhaling. The diaphragm pulls the internal organs toward the spine and moves them upward. The abdomen feels completely flattened. [1]

Classification by breathing process

There are two types: holding your breath and not holding your breath. Breath holding can be divided into two types: breath holding after exhalation and breath holding after inhalation. [1]

Classification by nostril breathing position

There are three types of breathing: breathing through the left nostril, breathing through the right nostril, and breathing through alternating nostrils.

Yoga breathing method

Purify the respiratory tract

Fitness Benefits: Breathe through each nostril. The right nostril connects to the yang, sympathetic nerves, activity, etc., while the left nostril connects to the yin, parasympathetic nerves. Be calm and wait.

Action essentials:

1. Bend the index and middle fingers of your right hand. Press your right nostril with your thumb, exhale the remaining air from your left nostril, and then inhale the air from your left nostril again.

2. Release your thumb, press your left nostril with your ring finger and little finger, exhale through your right nostril, and then inhale through your right nostril. Then press your right nostril with your thumb and exhale through your left nostril. Exhalation time is twice as long as inspiration time.

The above introduces in detail the yoga movements of abdominal breathing. Friends who like to practice yoga will definitely benefit from it. But just watching is not enough, we have to act. Especially for those who don't exercise much, practicing yoga can not only stretch the shins, but also enhance our physical fitness.