Is there a special way to breathe during yoga practice?
Yes. In fact there are many different types of breathing techniques used to achieve different results, but you can start with a simple breathing technique to use throughout your practice. It goes like this: 1) Do your best to breathe through your nose (rather than mouth). This helps slow your breathing rate, keeps your body warmer and filters the air before it enters your lungs. 2) Relax your belly slightly and, as you inhale, allow your belly to gently expand (without pushing it out). As you exhale, let your belly relax back towards your spine. Keeping your belly soft allows you to breathe into the lower part of your lungs where oxygen exchange is more efficient. Breathing this way also helps relax your muscles and slow your breathing rate. 3) Keep at least part of your focus on your breath throughout your practice. This allows your mind to have a break from it usual activities of analyzing and judging and keeps some of your focus inward, so you are less distracted by what is happenin
