Pranayama: The Complete Breath

The Complete Breath

 The Complete Breath - Surya Pierce, MD and David Rakel, MD

U.W. Department of Community Medicine and Family Health

Activity

Following the demonstration, try four complete breaths.
1. Write a few sentences reflecting on your experience.

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Most Americans do not breathe from their diaphragm. They breathe from their scalenes (primarily) and intercostals (secondary). Just getting someone to breathe from their diaphragm on purpose can be a huge step forward.

Diaphragmatic breathing (also called "abdominal breathing" or "belly breathing") encourages full oxygen exchange — that is, the beneficial trade of incoming oxygen for outgoing carbon dioxide. Not surprisingly, this type of breathing slows the heartbeat and can lower or stabilize blood pressure.

 Question:

Click on the link: Why do pranayama? and answer the following questions:

2. What is pranayama?

3. Briefly explain the physical, physiological, psychoemotional and spiritual effects of pranayma?

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Today's Asana

Upward Salute

Activity

4. Do the upward salute conscious of your breath. Reflect on the experience.

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Activity

Go back to the link and watch Michelle Dalbec's video on breathing. Follow her guided meditation.

5. Share a brief reflection on your experience.

Experiencing Deeper States

I. VIDEO

QUESTION: After watching Bruce Lipton's video, explain what are the main advantages of doing yoga.

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II.

AREAS OF STUDY


Body Work: working the body to affect our global functioning. It has different components:

    Physical Postures
    Stretching Exercises
    Movement Exercises
    Breathing Techniques
    Relaxation Techniques


QUESTION: Which of the above areas of body work do you think you are most familiar with. Explain.

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III. 

Important Terms

Self Regulation: Our ability to control our internal stress response and our emotional response. This is reflected as resilience to stress and equanimity in the face of emotions, which lead to psychological self-efficacy.

Cultivation of Mind-Body Awareness: The sense of feeling and experience what is going on with the body and to experience what is going on mentally. It is to be able to observe the flow of thought. This cultivation of mind-body awareness leads to an increased mindfulness which can change behaviors in a very positive way.

Experiencing Deeper States: These are transcendent states, even if for a short term; these are experiences you get through meditation that can be transformative to people, as they bring them to positive goals in life that improve and enhance life meaning and purpose.

QUESTION: How do you plan to actively embrace the terms explained above?

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IV. 

Summary

The most important scientific principle on which yoga is based is prana with space. We need to create that space in the body; we need to create that space in the mind.

When one's mind in clogged with thoughts they need to be removed through meditation. Similarly, in the body, when one is doing asanas, we stretch the body to create that much needed space, which is equivalent to inter-cellular space.

When space is made, prana flows, when there is prana, there is wellness. Thus, yoga establishes connections in the body that move energy and information through channels called nati.

This energy and information is called prana and chita. The psycho-physiological effect to the practice enables people to manage their stress response.

Breath is the most available tool one has to control stress response and it can happen with every breath one takes allowing one to fully expand one's lungs. This reduces blood pressure which is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system, which is a messenger of the stress response.

As one goes from one posture to another, one creates challenge that our mind has to constantly deal with, which makes one to active the pre-frontal cortex to redirect attention, one regulates one's breathing, which reflects on the sympathetic nervous system and life in general.

Therefore, yoga allows one to control the mind. The more control of the mind one has the more power one has to control one's physiology, where one is in the world, and how one connects to the world, which happens through the nervous system.

QUESTION: Based on what is expressed in the video, the summary above, and your own experience, write a paragraph in which you explain how stretching affects the mind-body connection.

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NEW POSE: Tree Pose

LINK: The Mythology Behind Vrikshasana

Oneness Through Breathing

I. Jaggi Vasudev, known publicly as Sadhguru, is an Indian yogi and author. In 1992, Vasudev established Isha Foundation, which has been involved in various activities in the field of spirituality, education, and environment. 

Question: Reflect on Sadhguru's message by writing a few sentences.

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     II. Asana

1) mountain pose

Question: What did you feel embodying this first asana?

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LINK:How to Actually Practice Mountain Pose 

Question: Which are the  benefits of the Mountain Pose?

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POST YOUR ANSWERS ON DISCUSSION BOARD