21-Day Pranayama Breathing Challenge

Watch this video before you begin the challenge. It tells you what we will be doing and why working with the breath matters. This is the real juice of yoga.

Yoga uses the physical body as a tool to affect the mind. Train the breath, train the mind.

This first class focuses mainly on simple movements: which movements go with the inhale and which with the exhale, and some stretches that help free the breath. Good posture and a well used body are the base of a good breath.

We finish by beginning a relationship with our own breath, simply trying to feel it and get in touch with this vital process.

Free your breath.

We are often told to breathe into the belly. Why, and what does it mean?

When the belly expands as you breathe, it means you are relaxed around the abdomen and the diaphragm is moving freely, pressing down on the abdominal organs and creating that bulge.

Free your belly.

This class starts with simple movements that loosen restrictions around the breath.

Then we breathe lying on the floor on our stomachs, breathing into the belly and using the ground to feel the pressure of the expansion. Many people find this calming when they feel anxious.

We develop the work so far, moving between breathing on our backs, on our bellies and in Child's Pose.

The posture changes, but the aim stays the same: a free, relaxed abdomen.

Letting go.

A good exhale matters for the body and the mind. After some simple movement, we begin to work with the exhale and relaxed pauses in the breath.

Exhale excellence.

Pausing the breath builds your tolerance to carbon dioxide, which makes calm, slow breathing easier. We begin to experiment with getting used to holding the breath.

A perfect pause.

Freediving is another discipline where breathing capacity is essential, and we borrow some techniques from it.

Simple stretches with the breath held, to increase movement around the rib cage and the side body.

Continuing the work from yesterday, we repeat the same stretches, now with the breath held after the exhale. This helps reduce our residual volume, the air that stays in the lungs when you have breathed out as far as you can.

The stretches work the side body, around the ribs and lungs. Diving free.

A little movement warms us up for the seated posture and the three-part breath: first into the belly, then filling the side body, and finally topping it off in the upper chest and back.

Three-Part Breathing.

The three-part breath is the way to a full and complete breath. Now we combine it with pausing the breath after both the inhale and the exhale.

Good work for developing your best natural breath.

Now we're breathing.

This class starts with some simple stretches lying down.

The belly and the chest are closely linked, so a relaxed belly helps a natural breath. Alongside breathing exercises, yoga has techniques for the belly and digestion, and we try a simplified version of one of them: Uddiyana Bandha Kriya.

Every action in yoga has a counter action. Yesterday we compressed the belly. Today we give it space.

This is a simplified version of a traditional technique called Agni Sara, which in the yoga tradition stokes the digestive fire.

Are you used to working with your pelvic floor, or what yoga calls the bandhas? If yes, great. If not, now is the time to start.

A connection to the pelvic floor matters for core stability and a good breath. We introduce a technique to help you feel it.

The exhale is more connected to the calming part of the nervous system, and the inhale to the stimulating part. Lengthening the exhale is a short cut to calming the nervous system.

Find the rhythm.

The same technique as yesterday, with an exhale twice the length of the inhale. Now we try to lengthen each breath. The longer the breath, the fewer breaths we need.

Extend the breath.

We have done a lot to prepare ourselves for a healthy breath, both with movement and by working with the breath directly. A good foundation is in place.

Today's technique is alternate nostril breathing, from classical pranayama. In the yoga tradition it balances energy and the nervous system.

To balance.

The last classes had more time in the seated posture, so we start this one with some simple stretches lying down to release sitting tension.

The main focus today is a pranayama called Ujjayi, which translates as victorious.

Continuing the work with Ujjayi, we introduce breathing with sound. The technique gently narrows the flow of air in the throat, which lets you lengthen the inhale and the exhale more and more.

Learn how to lengthen.

We begin with some movement, then introduce another new pranayama technique: Sitali, the one that cools. It is one of the classic therapeutic breathing techniques, and in Ayurveda it is used to cool excess heat, pitta, in the body.

Cool.

Another class, another new technique. This one is called Kapalabhati, which translates as shining skull.

It can take time to master, so we introduce it in an accessible way. Shine your skull.

Well done, you did it. This last class brings together the pranayama techniques we have been working with into one complete class for your breath and your inner energy.

Congratulations.

I am proud of you for completing the course. I hope you feel it was worth the effort, because it is. Working with the breath is one of the most useful tools we have for the body and the mind.

The challenge is completed, but the practice is only beginning. The longer we work with this, the greater the effects. This video has suggestions for continuing your practice.