Ineffective breathing is a really common problem with modern lifestyles. It’s brought on by poor posture and long periods of sitting or driving.
So when you breathe shallowly (called “chest breathing”), the air only enters your upper chest and very little enters your lower chest.
This causes a lack of oxygen to your blood vessels, which can create strain on your heart and lungs. Learning to breathe deeply will increase your oxygen supply, which, also helps to reduce stress and anxiety levels.
The breath work that we focussed on this week in our ‘Feel Good Friday Yoga Flow’ from Rugby is called the 3-part breath or Dirga Pranayama. Dirga means complete. Pranayama means breath extension. Practising Dirga Pranayama teaches you to breathe fully and completely.
It’s one of the first breathing exercises that I remember learning many years ago.
The soft tissue of the lungs can grow, stretch and expand. This breathing practice helps to not only extend the breath but really increase the volume of the lungs and stretch the soft tissue of the lungs.
Fancy giving yoga a go and coming along to Feel Good Friday Yoga in Rugby? Head over to my registration page to get started!