Viloma (Staircase) Breathing

Viloma breathing, also known as interrupted breathing, is a yogic breathing technique in which you pause briefly during the inhale, the exhale or both rather than breathing in one continuous flow. You gently divide the breath into small segments, with short pauses between each, while keeping the body relaxed and the breath comfortable. This practice can help improve breath awareness, promote relaxation, calm the nervous system, and develop greater control over breathing. It may also help reduce stress and encourage a sense of calm and mental focus.

Transcript

Hi, Thank you for joining me today. We're going to be doing a yoga breathing exercise called Valoma breathing or staircase breathing. The definition of Valoma in Sanskrit is against the wave, In this case, Against your breath. This practice is suitable for beginners and for most people if you have high blood pressure, If you have heart issues, Or are pregnant. Consult your physician before beginning. The benefits of this practice are increasing. So this is a great practice before you meditate, A way to calm the mind and also improve your lung capacity. The breath is going to be broken up into pieces or steps. And the first stage, We're working on our inhalation. We'll be taking an inhale in three parts, Like we're walking up three stairs. The first part of the inhale, You can focus on filling the lower belly. The second part, The middle of the torso, The rib cage, The chest. And the third part up towards your collarbones and your shoulders. And the first stage, The inhale is the stagger, The step, And the exhale is smooth. So think of walking up the steps. And taking the elevator down. Let's begin. We're going to take an inhale and fill the belly. Inhale and focus on the middle of the torso, The ribs, The chest. And then direct the breath up towards the collarbones, The shoulders. Pause, And then a smooth exhalation. Continuous breath out. Inhale, Fill one third, The lower belly. Fill again. Middle of the torso. Fill again up towards the collarbones. Smooth exhalation down. One more round, We inhale. Follow Inhale. Pause. Inhale to the top. Pause. Smooth exhalation. Let your breath return to normal for a moment. In stage two, We focus on the exhalation. Now we're going to stagger that in three parts. Starting at the top of the collarbones and gradually letting air out like we're walking down three steps. Or you can think of a balloon that you're gradually letting the air out of with a pause in between. The inhale will be smooth and continuous, So we're taking the elevator up and the stairs down. Here we go. Inhale, Smooth, Continuous from bottom up. Exhale a third. Pause. Exhale a third. Pause. Exhale to the end, The last little bit in the belly, Pause. Smooth inhale. Let a third of the air out. Bye. Another third. Pause. To the bottom. Hans. Let's do one more round in the second stage. Smooth inhalation. Exhale third of the air. Another third. To the bottom. Now let your breath return to its natural rhythm again. There's one final stage, Which is altering both the in and the out breath. So we're walking up three steps and we're coming down three steps. No more elevator. At either direction. Here we go. We inhale. Inhale. Inhale. Now we try to go down slow. Exhale. Just a little exhale. Exhale. All right, We're going to try two more rounds like that. Now remember, I'm using my hands to show you what you're doing. You do not have to move your hands. You can keep them resting in your lap. It's just a visual to give you an idea, A cue you of where you should be filling or releasing the air from. Let's do two more rounds. We breathe in. Pause. In Pause. In pause. Exhale. Pause. Exhale. Pause. To the bottom. Pause. One more time. Take one step. Second step. Third step. And we go down the same way. Let your breath return to normal. Effortless breathing. Notice how you feel. If you feel more calm or more focused or more energy from taking good care of yourself. Little deeper breaths than you might be used to and increasing that lung capacity. The more we practice, The easier this becomes. And remember, It's a great practice to do. Preemptive practice a precursor to your meditation. Thank you for joining me today.