Pranayama Class with Dorinda

Find a comfortable seat. In this class we'll only focus on our breath and how to use different types of breath in your yoga practice. Practice with me as many times as you want. Deepen your breath. Feel the difference in your body. Enjoy!

Be love,
Dorinda

Transcript

I'm going to do some pranayama techniques today, Which are breathing techniques, So that we can have different things to use during yoga classes. But today we're just going to focus on pranayama. So I want you to find a comfortable seated position. You can even do this sitting in a chair. But if you can sit on the ground, Have your hips a little higher than your knees, Different ways. But the spine being long is most important. So I want you to find a place where you have the natural curve in your back. Shift to the front of the chair so that you roll to the front of the sit bones. This is important just to get the alignment right in the seated position. Before we start. We're going to go over a few breathing techniques today, And some of them have to do with your nostrils. So if you have a cold, It will be easier. If you get a tissue, You might need to clear your nose before we start, Because it is some breathing that we'll be doing. Some of it is quickly, And that will help if the nose is clear. What's also happening is normally you breathe dominantly out of one nostril. That switches, Depending on how your mind is working, From left brain to right brain, From right nostril to left nostril. So what we're going to do is try and bring balance to that by doing something called alternative nostril breathing. Normally when I do that, We use the right hand, And you can have different ways of holding it. You can use your thumb and your ring finger, Or you can. . . Put your peace fingers down and use your thumb and ring finger just switching back and forth or you can use it as a U. Just use your right hand. What we're going to do is we're going to just close your right nostril with your thumb. And you're going to inhale through your left nostril. After the inhale, You flip and exhale out of the right nostril. Stay here. Inhale through the right nostril. After the inhale, Switch. Exhale. Out of the left nostril. Stay here for the inhale. Switch after the inhale to the opposite nostril to exhale. You're going to continue doing this. The pattern is switch after every inhale to the opposite nostril. You're going to try and make at least a five-second inhale, At least a five-second exhale, And it's still ujjayi. You're still listening to the sound in the back of the throat. Now we're just going to do a few rounds of this. Staying for the inhale. Switching after the inhale to the opposite nostril. Keep going. Keep the natural curve in the back by reaching the crown of the head up. Try and lengthen. The breath without fighting it. Now inhaling and exhaling from the lower belly. Still sound in the back of the throat. Keep going. Just a few more rounds. This can help to calm down the mind. Do one more breath. And then I want you to release the right hand down onto the knee and just sit here for a few moments, Taking long, Deep breaths through the nose. And you may notice that it's easier to take a deeper breath, That both nostrils are open. This also balances energy channels in the spine to help the energy to flow better. It balances right and left brain, But it also opens up the energy channels. And it's very nice to do before a yoga practice to help you connect to the energy. Alright. You can calm down already just from doing that. Now if you have a very busy mind, Or if you're having trouble falling asleep at night, Another thing you can do is breathe dominantly through the left nostril only. So we're going to do that just for a few rounds. I want you just to take your right thumb, Close the right nostril softly. You don't have to push hard. And then I want you to take long, Deep breaths through the left nostril only, In and out. At least a five-second inhale, At least a five-second exhale, Longer if you can without fighting. Still inhaling and exhaling through the lower belly as the belly inhales, Blows up like a balloon, Exhales, Pulls back from the lower belly. Still the ujjayi sound in the back of the throat. It is soft but loud enough for you to hear. One more breath. When you're finished, Release the hand back down onto the knees. And once again, Long, Deep breaths. And if you wake up in the middle of the night having trouble falling back to sleep, Try that breath. It can help you fall back to sleep faster. And so the mind, The busy spinning mind should calm down. That's what it's doing. One of the purposes of yoga is we're trying to get the energy to run better through the body. To break through energy blockages, To release any aches, Pains, Or emotional disturbances that are there. So sometimes we want the energy to move a little more. We want the fire to increase. I'm going to show you a little bit of breath of fire and some breathing techniques that increase that energy level. If you have high blood pressure, If you have any inflammation in your body, If you're pregnant or in your first three days of your menstrual cycle, You don't need to do this breath. But I'm going to explain how to do it anyway. Breath of Fire is a forced exhale. Some people call it cannon breath with the mouth open. So it's a. . . Almost like you're blowing a candle out that would be in front of you. The belly is going to pull in forcefully. When you exhale. But with Breath of Fire, We're going to do it with the mouth closed. So I want you first to do a few with the mouth open. You can have your hand on your belly. I like to just feel that so that I can feel the belly is moving. The rest of my body isn't supposed to move, Just the belly. So it's a. . . Okay? You can get dizzy from this. Just even from doing those few breaths. Take time. You don't have to do it all at once. We're going to do it for about a minute. If possible through the nose so it's a forced exhale through the nose Breath of Fire. Sound in the back of the throat, Ujjayi, Even here. Here we go. Long, Deep breaths. And observe. Close the eyes. If you want to count, You could count to 36. You may start to notice some tingling, Some energy flow. Just allow that to happen. You don't have to hold the hand on the belly, But in the beginning I like to do that just to realize that you're doing. . . The belly pumping as well, Because it's very good for the third chakra, For the energy to start running. And turning up the fire. We're gonna do one more round. Of about 36, You can count if you like. Approximately a minute and when you're ready here we go Inhale deep. Exhale, Long, Deep breaths. See if you can relax the face. The eyes melt into the energy, But keep the spine long. The crown of the head reaches up towards the sky, The ceiling, Wherever you are. Relax the face. Melt out. When you start to notice the energy, You have the ability to truly meditate. Meditation is you melting into the energy. But you've got to notice the energy first. Pranayama is very powerful in getting you to notice the energy. Another breathing technique. I want to show you today. Also increases fire. So be gentle. If it's not a time that you're pregnant, Inflammation in the body, Then you don't want to be doing this. You want to be doing long, Deep breathing. High blood pressure. Anything. You don't want to be pushing that too much. Because we're going to be holding the breath. I want you to. . . Just come back to your normal breath a few rounds. And then we're going to inhale. Sound in the back of the throat. Exhale all your air. You're going to hold the breath out do not breathe in and out but you pump your belly back and forth with the breath held out until you need to take an inhale. Then you pause and you inhale. And you exhale all your air. You hold your breath out and pump your belly as many times as you can. Until you need to inhale then you inhale and you do it again. Exhale, Get to the end of the exhale. Hold the breath out. Pump the belly as many times as you can while holding the breath out. When you need to inhale you inhale again. And we do this just for a few rounds. Do one more round. And then exhale, Inhale. Back to long deep breathing. Melt back into the energy. Relax the face. Roll to the front of the sit bones. Lift the heart. Crown of the head reaches up towards the ceiling, Relaxing to the energy. We're going to lie flat. And do one more breathing technique and stay lying down. For a relaxation afterwards, I want you to lie on your back. Make any adjustments you need. Ahem I'm going to do a little connected breathing here. Comfortable. You could also do this in a seated position, But I want to give you the opportunity to just relax deeply. So we're going to lie flat. You're going to inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth in a forced exhale, Sort of a. . . First sigh. And then inhale through the nose again and then exhale through the mouth. We're going to do this for about a minute and then we're going to rest and pause between before we do it again. Whenever you're ready, Inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth. It's a connected breath. Forced exhale. Immediate inhale through the nose. One more. Then just regular breath. Normal. Observe. The energy you may not need. To take a breath immediately. So just watch for a moment whenever you need to breathe, You breathe. Just melt into the energy a few breaths. Soften the face, The eyes, The jaw. Allow yourself just to melt deeper into it. No more holding. We're gonna do one more round. If it's enough, Just stay. You don't need to do more. If you're feeling dizzy or nauseous or anything, Just rest. Otherwise, We're going to start another round, Inhaling through the nose, Exhaling force through the mouth. Eyes are closed. Almost there. Three, Two. Last one. And long deep breathing again melt out into the energy And release all holding. And again you may be able to pause the breath for longer than you normally would. Whatever you need to breathe, Just breathe naturally as it comes. Melt out into the energy and relax deeply. The eyes, The face, The jaw Release all holding. Stay lying. For a little bit longer. But observing the energy. Observing without judgment, Allow yourself to take a deeper breath. Start to wake the body back up to bring your attention back in. If you prefer to stay lying down, You may. Otherwise, Start to float awake by reaching into the arms, The legs, Eventually bending the elbows, The knees. Gently rolling off to one side, Not in a hurry, Take your time. And you absolutely have the option to stay longer. Whenever you're ready you can come up sideways. Once again to a seated position. See if you can come back to a straight spine neutral. Hold. Noticing the energy even now. Calmer, Clearer. Or relax. Let's take a deep breath and inhale. Bring the hand palms together and exhale through the mouth in a sigh just to. . . And the practice one more time. Inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth. Thank you. Till we meet again. Namaste.