Breathwork Morning Routine

This is a great breathwork morning practice! I personally do this every morning for 10-15 minutes before my morning meditation. It wakes me up, helps keep my respiratory system in shape and gives me a general sense of wellbeing. The two techniques I'm guiding you through, Kapalbhati and Anuloma Viloma, are ancient yogic pranayama practices, both with specific purposes and benefits - physical and mental. See how you experience them. Have a great session!

Transcript

Hello and welcome to this breathwork session.

My name is Ian Mill and I will be your guide.

So this particular session is perfect to do in the morning after you woke up,

Maybe just before your morning meditation.

But of course you can also do this whenever you want throughout the day.

We're going to be using two techniques.

I'm not going to talk too much about what they actually do to your body,

But rather go straight into the technique so that you can focus on the breath and feel what it does for you.

And so the two techniques that we will be using is part of the pranayama techniques,

The very old ancient yogic pranayama techniques that has been around for thousands of years.

And the two techniques is called kappalabhati,

Which translates into shining skull,

And andaloma viloma,

Which is alternate nasal breathing.

So these two go hand in hand,

I would say.

It's a perfect combination to do right after each other,

Since one is a bit more activating and the other one is a bit more calming.

And we're going to start with a more activating practice,

Which is kappalabhati.

And in kappalabhati,

We do a very active exhalation by pumping in the navel area,

The navel area and just below,

In towards the spine in a very active pump motion and a very passive inhalation after that.

So we focus a lot on the exhalation in this technique.

So we're going to do this in three rounds.

I will be guiding you all the way and we're going to alternate the rounds with a few breath holds as well.

So each round will consist of about 30 to 40 breaths.

And when I say one,

You exhale.

And when I say two,

You inhale.

So one,

Two,

One,

Two,

One,

Two,

One,

Two.

That's basically the rhythm.

So before we begin,

I invite you to find a nice comfortable seat with a straight spine.

Perhaps you sit on your meditation pillow.

The most important thing is that you have enough space for the belly to expand and that you can sit straight with a straight neck as well.

And so we begin by taking a deep inhale,

Letting go halfway and then we pump one,

Two,

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And exhale everything out.

And we take a deep inhalation in,

Holding on the top.

Staying relaxed by holding the breath with filled lungs.

If you really feel the need to exhale,

Do that.

Or you wait for further guidance.

And exhale.

Well done.

So next round,

Take a deep inhale.

Let go halfway and then start the pump.

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Exhale everything.

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Take a few breaths in between.

Then prepare for the last round of Kapalabhati by drawing in a lot of air.

Letting go halfway.

And start the pump.

One,

Two,

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Exhale everything.

Take a deep breath in.

And hold.

Hold but stay relaxed in your entire body,

Including your facial muscles.

And exhale.

Great job.

Take a few recovery breaths.

Maybe you want to stretch out your legs before we head into the next practice.

The Anuloma Velloma or alternate nasal breathing.

So we start by placing our left hand on our knee,

Holding up the right hand in front of us and folding in your index finger and your middle finger towards your palm.

This is called Vishnu Mudra and the idea is that we now have fingers to block our nostrils with,

One at a time.

So we block with the thumb and we block with the ring finger.

So we're going to do this in a ratio of four,

Sixteen and eight.

That means we breathe in to four,

Hold to sixteen and breathing out to eight.

So we can try this out before we start.

So place your thumb on your right nostril,

Breathing in to the left nostril to four,

One,

Two,

Three,

Four and hold to sixteen.

And after that we block the left nostril with our ring finger and breathe out through the right nostril to eight.

And after that we breathe in to the right nostril to four,

Holding our breaths again to sixteen and breathing out through the left nostril to eight.

That is one round.

And we're going to do four rounds.

And don't worry,

I will guide you through this session,

So just make sure you understand the technique and the ratio that we'll be using.

So find a comfortable seat,

Straight spine,

Relaxed mind.

And we start by placing our right thumb on the right nostril and breathing in to the left nostril to four.

So one,

Two,

Three,

Four and hold.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight,

Nine,

Ten,

Eleven,

Twelve,

Thirteen,

Fourteen,

Fifteen,

Sixteen and out through the right.

Two,

Three,

Four,

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Seven,

Eight,

In through the right,

Two,

Three,

Four and hold.

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Nine,

Ten,

Eleven,

Twelve,

Thirteen,

Fourteen,

Fifteen,

Sixteen,

Out through the left.

Two,

Three,

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Seven,

Eight,

In through the left,

Three,

Four and hold.

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Nine,

Ten,

Eleven,

Twelve,

Thirteen,

Fourteen,

Fifteen,

Sixteen,

Out through the right.

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Eight,

In through the right,

Three,

Four and hold.

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Eight,

Nine,

Ten,

Eleven,

Twelve,

Thirteen,

Fourteen,

Fifteen,

Sixteen,

Out through the left.

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight,

In through the left,

Two,

Three,

Four and hold.

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Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight,

Nine,

Ten,

Eleven,

Twelve,

Thirteen,

Fourteen,

Fifteen,

Sixteen,

Out through the right.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

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Seven,

Eight,

In through the right,

Two,

Three,

Four and hold.

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Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight,

Nine,

Ten,

Eleven,

Twelve,

Thirteen,

Fourteen,

Fifteen,

Sixteen,

Out through the left.

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight,

In through the left,

Last round,

Three,

Four and hold.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight,

Nine,

Ten,

Eleven,

Twelve,

Thirteen,

Fourteen,

Fifteen,

Sixteen,

Out through the right.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight,

In through the right,

One,

Two,

Three,

Four and hold for the last time.

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight,

Nine,

Ten,

Eleven,

Twelve,

Thirteen,

Fourteen,

Fifteen,

Sixteen,

And out to the left,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six,

Seven,

Eight,

And relax.

Beautiful.

Well done.

This is a great morning routine and I advise you to go into a short meditation now and just experience the work that you did for yourself.

Have a beautiful day and see you soon.

Reviews

Truly breathtaking! Thank you for this beautiful morning ritual.

So nice thank you for sharing your precious wisdom ✨️ 🙏

That was beautiful and your guidance is amazing! Thank you so much 💜

Wow I’m gonna do this before my regular morning meditations. This helped wake me up

This was totally engrossing. At first I was a little panicky with the alternate nostril breathing but that rapidly dissipated. Will be incorporating this in my morning routine. Thanks

I notice that I don’t like to hold my breath for 16 counts. It feels too long. I get a little panicky. Any tips on how to work up to holding my breath in a calm manner?! Thank you. Despite my breath holding anxiety, I do enjoy practicing breath work. And I want to get better at this.🙏❤️

Step by step steps I found very helpful! Feeling absolutely wonderful after the breathwork! Thank you!

Explained well for a first timer. Great practice I can take with me. Thank you.

In its simplicity, are the signs of a master breathwork teacher.

Loved it. Clear instructions and I feel ready to start my day.

Wow, Emil, that was my first time trying the breathwork on one side at a time. It was so difficult at first and then the last round was much easier. Feeling so much better. I am adding this to my mornings. Thank you!

Great breathing practice!! Energizing and grounding! 🙏🏼

Clear simple to follow and effective thank you for sharing here 🙏🌺💕

That was great. I have been aware of breath work for a long time, using it sporadically (including 4-7-8 breath to lower bp or help with sleep). I have always wished I had a regular practice. For some reason this has come along at the perfect time and I feel ready to make this a morning ritual. Thank you, Emil! w

Such a great meditation 🙏 Thank you !Namaste 🧘‍♀️

Absolutely wonderful practice. It’s perfectly challenging and keeps me motivated to get stronger at breath work! Thank you for sharing your routine!

what a thoroughly guided class. so appreciative of the diligent guidance offered through this 2-in-1 breathwork practice.

it was most helpful to hear counting *with* kapalabhati; I hadn’t tried or thought of that before. it was very helpful in creating a full release of breath with each forceful exhale.

slowing the breath down and cultivating balance with alt. nostril breathing was also very helpful. the holds in this meditation are where the subconscious and conscious mind begin to talk to one another 🧘🏾.

grateful for this practice.

Wow! Really good, Emil, though I certainly wasn’t “perfect.” 😉 Your coaching/timing is just right. This feels so beneficial, will do it again tomorrow. I feel great. 👍 🙏 🌞

Second part I thought started off almost a miss then turned out well.

I feel equally energised and grounded. A real sense of feeling alive, focused and ready to begin my day. Wonderful practice - bookmarking! Thank you 🌻🙏☀️