In translation, the word yoga means “to unite” or “to come in union”.
The whole practice of yoga is not just a form of physical exercise where you make acrobatic movements and complicated shapes with your body. The physical poses (asana) is only one aspect of the whole spiritual practice.
Breath (prana) is the key component of the practice and what sets yoga apart from other forms of physical exercises.
This is not to say that the physical aspect of yoga is not important. It is important, too. As a matter of fact, our physical well-being affects the quality of our breath.
Living in this modern world, not to mention the struggles of making ends meet, we are enmeshed in our busyness to keep everything afloat — happy home life, successful business, maintaining good relationships with our children and spouse.
With this, comes stiffness, contraction and tightness around our bodies. What we experience from our external world, we store in our body. That’s why we feel tightness in our chest when we feel grief, heaviness in our shoulders when we are overburdened with responsibilities, and contraction in our hips when we feel unworthy. All of these physical experiences cause shallow breathing.
One way to release the stiffness, contraction and tightness and feel more FREEDOM in your body, is mindfully moving with and deepening your breaths.
Deep breathing is a powerful way to regulate your nervous system back to homeostasis — optimal well-being.
So this week, we’re bringing awareness to our breathing and training ourselves to move with the breath.
In the guide video, you can hear my breathing cues and prompts to connect with your breath as you move into poses.
Bring awareness into how you’re breathing when sitting down in front of your computer.
When something comes up at home, or at work, bring awareness to how you are breathing and how it affects your bodily posture.
As you begin your practice of yoga, this is also the same thing I tell new students that come into my class, the main focus is to cultivate awareness in your breath and within your body. The posture or the asanas will come as a result.