Eating bad food is not the only cause of indigestion. Did you know gas, bloating, GERD, constipation, diarrhea, and all that fun stuff can also be related to stress? If you’re not able to digest your food, you’re likely not able to digest what is happening in your life. This three-part yoga breathing exercise will help improve your gut health, relax stress-induced tension and help you practice mindfulness when eating too.
How To Do The Three-Part Yogic Breath
Our breath is meant to assist the whole body in resting and digesting as it soothes the body in it’s parasympathetic nervous system state. However in our fast-past, stress-inducing lifestyles that pull us away from body awareness leave us with shallow breathing.
When we’re just breathing in the upper body, the digestive organs are not massaged as they’re meant to be, and of course we’re also dealing with the stress hormones that are released too.
The Three-part Yogic Breath is meant to help you breathe deeply again, to use the diaphragm which increases lymph and blood flow in the belly, increases peristalsis & bowel movement, and soothes the nervous system.
Watch the video above or follow the instructions here to learn this simple breathing technique.
Three-Part Yoga Breathing Instructions:
Come into a comfortable seated position or sit in a chair with the spine straight.
Close your eyes, interiorize your attention to focus on the movement of the breath moving in and out of the nose.
Place one hand on the belly and one on the chest, and bring the breath in deep now, to feel the belly expand.
Now inhale in two parts, first into the belly and then up into the chest. Then exhale completely in one part.
Continue, and as you get comfortable, you can extend out the breath. For example:
2 seconds inhale into the belly, 2 seconds into the chest / 4 second exhale
Are you hopping about with Spring fever? Or are you laying low with allergies and other seasonal discomfort? In this Ayurvedic kriya technique series, we’ve been exploring ways to stay well since the transition from Winter to Spring is challenging many of us, myself included! Last week, I showed you how to perform Jala Neti, or how to cleanse the nasal passages with warm salt water and a neti pot. Have you tried it? This week I’m teaching you Kapalabhati pranayama, translated as skull “shining breath”.
Kapalabhati pranayama clears energy and blood stagnation from the center of the body, where it can remain as a sludge that slows the body and mind. It also helps to break up mucus in the upper respiratory tract. Kapalabhati builds heat as it pumps and increases circulation.
This circulation of blood and energy is what’s needed to maintain proper gut health, immune function, and inflammatory response.
It’s a part of my Spring yoga practice to help lighten up my body, but you may find that it’s useful whenever you’re feeling lethargic or uninspired too! Read on or watch the video to learn how it’s done.
Kapalabhati Breathing
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Benefits of Kapalabhati
Kapalabhati breathing is one of the 6 Yoga kriya exercises to promote health and wellness. It’s also an invigorating practice that is a wonderful way to start the day!
Here’s some of Kapalabhati’s benefits:
Invigorates the body and mind, removing sluggishness
It strengthens the lungs, liver, heart, and mobilizes the intestine
It tones the abdominal muscles.
Increases breath capacity
Clears mucus and pens the sinuses and airways
Contraindications: This technique should not be used if you have a headache, vertigo, high/low blood pressure, history of stroke, gastritis, hernia, or ulcers.
How to do Kapalabhati Breathing
It’s best to perform Kapalabhati on an empty stomach.
Come into a comfortable seated position.
Take a few deep breaths to settle your mind down into your body.
Keeping your mouth and nose closed, exhale forcefully by pulling in the abdominal muscles. Let the inhalation fill up the abdomen and lungs passively. This is one “pumping”
Start by doing 10 pumpings. You can build up to 50+ with time, but want to make sure that you don’t hyperventilate or get dizzy. Stop when you feel that you’ve had enough.
After the pumpings, inhale long and deep. Lift the pelvic floor (mula bandha) as you bring your chin down (jalandhara bandha). Hold the breath in as long as is comfortable.
Then let go of the pelvic floor and chin locks, and release the breath completely.
Breathe normally and repeat 2-3 more cycles if you wish.
Note that while these kriya exercises can help keep you healthy and vibrant, you still need to do other work to maintain it. They’re not going to erase the immune challenges that come with poor sleep, an unbalanced diet, or overwhelm & worry.
I hope you find this breathing practice useful! Let me know how it works for you, in the comments below! Well wishes to you..
In this video I’m going to teach you a quick and easy pranayama or breathing practice that you can do in the morning before or after yoga and meditation or even by itself. It’s called the 9 Clearing Cycles and it’s an ancient Tibetan practice that help wake up your body, increase your vitality and improve your concentration skills.
This is the second post in a series of my personal morning rituals that I’m sharing with you. If you want to live a positive, intentional life, then starting your mornings with ritual is a where you should begin! Last week I shared a morning yoga practice for stiffness that you can do with this breathing practice.
Though I love doing this pranayama practice in the morning, it’s fine to do it anytime of the day. In addition to combining it with yoga and meditation, it can be part of your other self-care rituals like acupressure massage. I have a FREE self-acupressure guide that you can download below which will help keep you relieve tension and manage stress. You’ll love it!
Download for FREE here!
Morning Pranayama: Nine Clearing Breaths
In the morning, most of us want to build energy, but it’s important to make space in the body and mind first. The 9 clearing cycles is a nostril breathing practice that was introduced to me by my teacher Sarah Powers over a decade ago.
These Nine Clearing Breaths help to clear the energy channels of the body as well as the “poisons” of the mind which impede energy flow and stall our development. This practice always helps me start the day with receptive awareness which is necessary to keep a positive, open mind, and attract good things.
Try it! I know you’ll experience the same as well if this becomes part of your morning practice.
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Clearing the Nadis and Energy Channels
In this practice, we’re going to be working with the breath moving through the left and right nostrils. These relate to the Ida and Pingala nadis or energy channels of the body, that circulate Prana, Qi, also known as our “life force” that is connected with the breath.
The Ida & Pingala nadis serpentine around the main nadi, the Sushumna, which contains the chakras or energy wheels of the body.
These channels help balance yin/yang, left/right, female/male energy, and certain habitual tendencies related to these energies. They serpentine around the Sushumna, the central channel, which contains the chakras or energy wheels.
You’re purifying these three channels as well as the chakras in this breathing practice. It also incorporates quick exhalations from the belly which awakens our main power center, Manipura, the 3rd chakra. This is where you’ll experience a burst of energy.
How to do the Nine Clearing Cycles
Come into a comfortable seated position and make sure your spine is long and lifted.
We’re going to use our right hand to control the breathing for this whole practice. Cross the pinky finger over the ring finger as you’re looking at the palm. Place the ring finger to the left nostril, the thumb to the right nostril. The other two fingers rest at the third eye, in between the eyebrows.
Pre-Clearing the Nadis
First we’re going to prepare the channels by doing a pre-clearing.
You can open your airways with essential oils like Peppermint or the Breathe Blend.
Then close the right nostril and take five deep breaths through the left nostril. See if the inhalation and exhalation can be about 5 seconds in length. The left nostril relates to Ida nadi, yin, and one’s feminine nature. The poison of the mind associated with it is attachment or greed.
Then close the left nostril and take five slow breaths through the right nostril. This relates to Pingala nadi, our yang, masculine nature. The poison related to this nadi is anger.
Nine Clearing Cycles
Now we’ll do the Nine Clearing Cycles working with the Ida first (left nostril), then Pingala (right nostril), and then through both nostrils. there’s three cycles for each nadi which equals nine.
Each cycle consists of four parts (see video above for demonstration):
Inhale through the nostril for ~ 5 seconds.
Exhale through the nostril for ~ 5 seconds.
Inhale through the nostril for ~ 5 seconds.
Exhale quickly through the nostril and with the belly pressing in toward the spine (not so hard that it’s like your blowing your nose).
Let’s start with opening the ida, the left nostril. Imagine that you’re letting go of your attachments and greed. This can be the way you’re physically holding on to material items, or old patterns and beliefs.
With the pingala, the right nostril, you’re letting go of any anger, hatred or aggression in your life.
Now bring the hand down and do the cycles through both open nostrils, imagining that you’re letting go of any delusion, misunderstanding how life is working around you.
After the nine clearing rounds, inhale and hold the breath in for 10 seconds. Exhale slowly and hold the breath out for 5-10 seconds. Finish with three slow, even, deep breaths.
I hope you feel more clear, awake, and maybe even more powerful after doing this morning pranayama practice! Please let me know in the comments if this is something you’d like to add to your morning ritual!
