Two Breathing Questions

[acorn484]

Hi Bernie,

My first question is in regard to the direction of the breath in the torso. Let's say that, for both questions, Ujjayi breath is being practiced during an asana session. In T.K.V. Desikachar's book The Heart of Yoga, he recommends filling the chest first and then the abdomen on inhale and emptying the abdomen and then the chest on exhale. On the other hand, I have heard teachers from other traditions saying to do it the opposite way, filling the abdomen and then chest on inhale etc. Is this just an individual matter or is there one way that is anatomically more efficient?

The second question is about the roll of the belly during breathing, specifically exhale. One teacher that I take asana classes with recommends keeping the belly relaxed while breathing deeply. In my experience, to fully empty the lungs, I need to contract the abdomen toward the spine during the latter part of the exhale. I asked this teacher about it and he did say that a full exhale does require an abdominal contraction but he recommends that people try to keep the belly soft for the duration of the breathing cycle at first. What is your opinion on this? Is it advisable to contract the belly on the exhale or does it depend on the individual?


Thanks, Vincent

[Bernie]

Hi Vincent

Two pretty big questions. Let me start with the second one first: what do we do with our lower belly during breathing? It does “all depend” but not just on the individual, but more on the intention and the style of practice. In the July YinSights newsletter, I will be offering an article on the “Yin Side of Bandhas”. In this article we will look at why we want to contract the lower belly, when and by how much. The article is too long to post here, so I am going to bail out on you a bit and ask that you check back in July. Or you can make sure you don’t miss the Newsletter by signing up to it (if you haven’t already) by visiting this page: http://www.yinyoga.com/newsletters.php

Now as to your first question: which moves first – the chest or the abdomen, as we inhale? There are many students of Desikchar that also promotes his view of the direction of breath. Probably the most “famous” is Leslie Kaminoff. He has started something called, The Breathing Project. (See http://www.breathingproject.org/leslie.shtml) I had a chance to hear Leslie present at a Yoga Therapy conference, and what he shared made a lot of sense to me. Rather than me repeating his views, it is easier for you to just read this PDF he created: http://www.yogaanatomy.org/documents/An ... Breath.pdf

As you will see, he begins by saying, “it all depends!” Everyone is different and the context of your practice should dictate how you want to work with the breath. He goes on to contrast and compare the more traditional teachings of breath work and illustrates where there may be some inaccuracies in these teachings.

Have fun researching this for yourself (which in the Yoga sutras is called Svadyaya!)
Cheers
Bernie

[Bernie]

You may want to read this article, which also cites Leslie K.

http://blogs.yogajournal.com/corevalues ... eathe.html