The purpose of spending so much time on the breath is that when we become fully aware of the it and the mechnisms behind it, we gain the ability to control it effectively and intelligtently. And this ability allows us to take better care of our bodies and our health when we're on the mat or doing some form of exercise and when we're simply going about our day. It helps improve our quality of life. As we advance through the various stages of yoga from asana practice, to pranayama, to meditation and beyond the more we understand about the breath earlier on, the more effective our yoga practices are. Ganesh says it takes up to 2 years to develop comfort with the breath and do it effectively during our yoga practice. I find this fascinating because breathing is such an innate and natural activity and yet, as we go about our lives experiencing different stresses, traumas and diseases, our bodies develop certain tendencies that turn into more serious conditions over the years. Paying attention to where our blockages and weaknesses are is paramount to preventing or resolving these potential ailments.
What do we do though, when we get to that point when we have a cardiovascular condition, or a physical injury, or anything that prevents us from living our daily lives pleasantly? One condition that can cause a lot of daily discomfort is asthma. Ganesh focused on asthma for several hours yesterday because not only does it affect a person's ability to breathe properly, but it also can be extremely debilitating and difficult on someone if left unmanaged.
While we addressed asthmatic symptoms, the genetic, environmental, and internal factors taht contribute to asthma, the phases of the condition and diagnoses, I wanted to share how we can connect breathing exercises and yoga to help manage the condition and improve quality of life even with the condition.
The main issue with asthma is exhalation and not so much inhalation. People with asthma have a difficulty breathing out - especially when they're asked to breathe out a lot of breath very quickly. To tackle this issue with exhalation and allow someone with asthma more comfort with her breath, Ganesh offered a few exercises:
- Inversions - any yoga pose where the torso is either upside down such as headstand, handstand, and shoulderstand or upside down on a slant such as downward facing dog, gravity helps pull the diaphragm up, which allows for a more complete exhalation. This is true for anyone, whether or not they have asthma. Try a downward facing dog and notice how much easier your exhale and inhale.
- Sound - sound allows you to exhale the breath completely. Notice if you take a deep breath and simply exhale through the mouth, the exhale is much shorter and feels less complete than if you inhale and make the om sound on the exhale until you release all the air from your lungs. This way you're also engaging your abdominal muscles a bit more.
Forward bending, twists and pranayama can also assist in the exhale depending on how fit the person is. All of these exercises help someone with asthma gain a little more control of their breath and regain a psychological comfort with their breathing and their body. Please do note though that since the ujjayi breath can feel a bit constricting, it is not an ideal exercise for anyone who has trouble with breathing. Instead, they should do exercises that help them get more comfortable with the breath, making it feel more smooth and less strenuous, and then work toward toward engaging the ujjayi breath, but only if it's comfortable and supportive during the asana practice.
While I've never had asthma, it's so reassuring to me that yoga can play a part in improving the quality of life of someone who does.
One more day!!
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