Breathing is universal. You don’t have to practice yoga to learn how to breathe correctly. One of the reasons I have expanded beyond my Original Hot Yoga studio and started YogiVal.com, is to reach an audience that may not want to practice yoga, or is not ready to practice yoga, but wants to understand alignment principles of connection in their bodies. Learning to breathe well is the first step on the journey to better health, less stress, reducing pain and just feeling better in your day.
I have many students who take a long time to develop understanding how to breathe properly. They wonder why their bodies are not changing faster or why they feel tired and unable to do as many poses as they think they should. I try to point out when a student is breathing incorrectly so they aren’t wondering why they are having difficulty. Sometimes they get it right away and sometimes it takes time. I often stop class and explain what I mean and give demonstrations explaining how you can see whether you are breathing well or not. I try to make folks feel at ease as it takes practice. One of my students came up to me after one of these classes and told me it took her 2 years to breathe well. Thanks Rita for making my point.
Breathing is one of the hardest fundamentals to teach, but that is why it’s the most important. It sounds funny, but most people breathe superficially and run around all day without stopping to pause and take good, slow deep breaths. People carry so much tension and stress in their necks, upper back and shoulders. Developing mindfulness about breathing can help reduce stress and neck and shoulder pain. In this first video, I show you how to take full, deep breaths and how you can pause in your day to check into your breathing, slow down, reduce stress and re-energize. Learning to take full, deep breaths is the 1st YogiVal Fundamental to help everyone feel and live better.