Yoga Beginner: A couple of weeks ago, my seven-year-old son, Hayes, let me know he was having difficulty falling asleep. He said that he was having �numerous thoughts� at night and couldn�t prevent his mind from thinking. I told him about a breathing practice that I had taught his older brother, Calder, a couple of years earlier, and I recommended that Hayes could try it while lying in bed at night to assist him relax and fall asleep. The practice was basic: a couple of minutes of diaphragmatic breathing followed by a couple of minutes of consciously and gently amplifying every exhalation.
�Possibly you�d like to attempt it?� I said to Hayes. �I think it was useful for your brother sometimes, and possibly it will help you, as well.� Just then, Calder, who had been going through the room, announced: �You�re wrong, Mom.� I held my breath, wondering if he�d tell Hayes that my recommendation wasn�t going to work. �It doesn�t help me sometimes,� he said matter-of-factly. �It helps me constantly.�
I was enjoyably stunned. I hadn�t understand that Calder was still utilizing the practice I had taught him three years before. As I stooped on the living room floor to teach Hayes the same practice, I was reminded that pranayama, the fourth of the eight limbs of yoga outlined in Patanjali�s Yoga Sutra, does not have to be confounded.
Pranayama, which actually means �to extend the important life force,� or prana, is an amazingly rich practice made up of numerous breathing techniques that vary in complexity from ones basic enough for a child to do to those appropriate just for advanced experts. While the ideal way to practice pranayama is under the guidance of an professional teacher, there are basic techniques�such as gentle diaphragmatic breathing and easily lengthening the exhalation�that can be utilized at any time to transform not just your breath but as well as your state of mind.
In my role as a yoga therapist, I treat people struggling with a variety of problems, including depression, stress, chronic pain, sleep disturbances, and even life-threatening illness. Over and over, I�ve seen simple pranayama practices reduce anxiety and stress; promote restful sleep; ease pain; increase focus and attention; and, on a more subtle level, assist people connect to a quite, quiet place within so that they experience greater clarity and well-being on every level.
In the Yoga Sutra, Patanjali describes pranayama as a procedure by which you can break your unconscious breathing example and make the breath long, smooth, and easeful. Most people�s unconscious breathing examples are anything but smooth and easeful; they tend to be tense, erratic, and shallow (Yoga Beginner). When we are afraid or hear bad news, we frequently gasp�inhaling and then holding the breath. These breathing examples can activate the sympathetic nervous system (frequently referred to as the �fight or flight reaction�).
One of the important reasons that pranayama techniques that foster a long, smooth exhale (like the ones presented here) are so useful is because, when practiced effectively, they can support the parasympathetic nervous system and activate what is regularly known as the �relaxation response,� reducing anxiety and its effects on your mind and body. As a result, your flexibility in the face of challenge or adversity increases, and your mind becomes more still and focused.
No comments:
Post a Comment