A Deep Dive into Yogic Breathing
Often, breath training starts with letting go, laying down and relaxing abdominal muscles to feel the belly rise on the inhale and recede on the exhale — something called "belly breathing."
However, this is not the only way to breathe. There are many other steps that follow, which have been deeply understood with the yoga tradition. For instance, drawing the breath up the spine and into the heart can help with upright posture, and support the spine through a full range of motion (think Cirque du Soleil backbends)!
Integrating "Bandha" is the process of refining your breath, both for meditation, posture, and suppleness within movements. The spinal wave presents the perfect conditions to develop these sweet subtleties.
An important next step is "breathing into the lower back" — most easily felt in spinal flexion.
Next, we learn to expand the ribcage, something called the "Upward Flying energy lock," or Uddiyana Bandha in Sanskrit.
This matures into something the yogis call "Maha Mudra," or "The Great Gesture" in English... In Anatomical terms, it is Axial Extension, which is a reduction of the curves of the spine that creates more space between the vertebrae, coupled with the sense of lengthening up through the crown. This brings an alertness and relaxation to practice, and is the foundation of strong postures like handstand/headstand, and using the breath in meditative ways during Pranayama, resting the mind in the calmness of the inner breath called “prana”
The Internal Winds (vayus)
PRANAYAMA is the traditional practice of working with the subtle energies of the body. Yogis of old times conceptualized three main energy channels that flow up the spine, from the pelvic floor to the head. The Ida Nadi, or moon channel, corresponds to the left nostril being more open and more receptive states of mind. By contrast, the Pingala Nadi ends in the right nostril and is characterized by faster decision making, and sometimes lends itself to arrogant states of mind or self-assuredness.
When the energy is balanced through pranayama practice, it effortlessly flows through the central channel, Susumna Nadi, which Hatha texts idealize as pure perception, moment to moment awareness, or even Samadhi, one of the deeper states of yoga that is the fruit of meditation.
Prana, the energetic flow of the breath, is subdivided into five categories of vayus (inner winds), one of which is confusing also called Prana. The main two we concern ourselves with are Prana and Apana, as they are the most readily workable and can easily be felt with the help of a few asanas (postures).
Postural qualities of the breath
PRANA is the pattern related to inhaling, backbending, opening into the unknown. It has an energizing quality that awakens the mind. Beginners are often taught this pattern. It is a useful approach to teach stiff people doing basic asana and exemplifies a basic stretching technique called reciprocal inhibition. Without the balance of apana, trouble can arise in weight-bearing situations and more intermediate asana.
APANA is the exhale pattern. It tends to make you contract and can bring stability back into many types of movements. It can be experienced actively as in high plank, or as passively slouching when the mind is distracted. Very often, the apana is overlooked in the pursuit of the aesthetic one might associate with ballet (shoulders away from ears, and heart lifted), yet apana is the grounding pattern that supports the hip joints and shoulders properly when it is blended with the prana pattern.
The prana and apana system studies these extremes as separate, so they can be rejoined like two long lost lovers. This joining of patterns makes asana practice pleasant, meditative and less stressful on the joints to prevent common injuries. As these energies are joined, co-activations of opposing muscle groups are formed across most major joints to increase stability within range