Breathing in Asana
Our natural tendency is to hold the breath or use stress
induced breathing while holding a posture. This creates
stress in the body. To create relaxation, breathe slowly
and deeply in all of the asanas. There are several ways
to breathe in asanas, and these will differ with teacher
and tradtion. I like to emphasize different breathing techniques
or pranayamas while holding different postures.
Use dirga pranayama in most postures. Focus on activley
breathing into the chest in backbends and chest opening
poses (pigeon, yoga mudra, warrior I, fish, bridge). For
forward folding postures and belly down postures you can
focus on just breathing into the belly (child, forward fold,
cobra, boat)
Use Ujjiaj pranayama when holding strength building postures
to increase endurance and focus (downward dog, standing
squat, warrior III, warrior I, sun salutations)
Letting Go of Attachment
The ancient yogic texts list obstacles that lie in the path
of yoga, attachment (sneha) is one of many. Holding on to
thoughts, possessions, experiences and emotions cause us
pain and suffering and hinder our progress of becoming whole.
Below is a simple, systematic process to “let go” of attachments which can be easily mastered.
1 Awareness You must first be aware of the physical/mental/emotional
attachment and be able to see the harm
it is causing you and/or others in your life.
2 Acceptance Once seen, you must accept that the attachment
is there and forgive yourself and/or others
for its harm.
3 Acknowledge See how this attachment has changed your life,
especially focusing on what you have learned
and how you have grown from the experience.
4 Visualize Imagine in your mind’s eye the attachment
floating away, dissolving, or evaporating. Watch
it completely disappear from your life.
5 Be in the Now Bring your focus back to the present moment,
breathe and feel everything that is happening
right now. Feel your mind-body-spirit free from all attachment.
Stay here as long as possible.
6 Repeat as necessary
