How To Do Breath Of Fire Tutorial

This short tutorial explains how to do Breath of Fire, one of the foundational breathing techniques in Yoga.

Breath of Fire is a rhythmic, balancing breath that helps strengthen the nervous system, increase lung capacity, boost the immune system, and build resilience to stress.

Regular practice can support greater vitality, mental clarity, and sustained energy throughout the day.
In this video, you’ll learn how to do Breath of Fire safely and correctly, even if you’re a beginner.

Transcript

Hello and welcome. My name is Paulina Kalujana and this is a short tutorial on how to do Breath of Fire. Breath of fire is one of the most fundamental breathing techniques in yoga. It is a balancing breath. It regulates and balances our nervous system. On one hand, We have their sympathetic nervous system, Which is your fight or flight mode. And it activates when we need to take action, When we need to respond to stress, Or when we need to protect ourselves. On the other hand we have the parasympathetic nervous system. This is your Restore and Rest Mode. And it's. . . That's what allows your body to relax, To rejuvenate. And to heal. The problem nowadays is that we have so much stress in life. That we tend to be in that fight or flight mode most of the time. So this is a beautiful practice to do on daily basis. In order to come into more balanced, Centered. And empowered state. Breath of fire also increases the lung capacity and vitality in our body. Let's talk about how to do it. Breath of Fire is equal inhale and equal exhale, All done through the nose. It's a passive inhalation and active exhalation. The posture matters a lot here. I'm sitting in cross-legged position. You don't have to do that. You're welcome to sit on the chair as long as you're comfortable, As long as you can maintain your spine straight. And the body relaxes Their chest is open so that their diaphragm can move freely up and down. So bring your right hand to your belly. And slowly begin to breathe all the way down into your belly. As you inhale, You feel the breath moving all the way down. And your belly expands into the hand. And as you exhale, Your belly softens towards the spine. Let's do a couple more rounds here. Inhaling slowly into the belly. The belly expands like a balloon. And as you exhale, Belly softens towards the spine. So just notice how your breath feels in the body. And how the belly arises. On the inhale. And softens on the exhale. Good. One more here. Inhale. And exhale. So now we're gonna add sharp exhalation. All down through the nose so same way you're inhaling through the nose and the belly expands into the hand. And now sharp exhalation through the nose. Now inhale again. And exhale sharply. So just become aware how the belly expands out. And then softens towards the spine. Focusing active exhalation. Very well. So another thing to be mindful of is what's called paradoxical breathing. Paradoxical breathing is when we reverse the pattern. Meaning on the inhale, We pull the belly in we lift through the chest And on the exhale, We kind of relax and even might collapse here in our diaphragm. Inhaling. Pulling the belly in, Experiencing a little tightness in the chest. And exhaling collapsing. So this is the paradoxical breathing. And most of the time, If we are not trained how to breathe properly, That becomes our habitual pattern. So, It might take you some time to start retraining yourself to breathe properly, Meaning to do the diaphragmatic breathing. So now Let's not coordinate. The breath, And the exhalation when we do Breath of Fire. And I know that at the beginning, It might be a little bit challenging. So the way I like to think about it is. . . When we see happy dogs, They're running around with an open mouth. Tongues taking out and they breathe heavily through the mouth. So that's what I would like us to do right now. Bring your hand to your belly, Open your mouth, Stick the tongue out, Don't be shy here, And begin to breathe through the mouth. It doesn't have to be powerful. It's just for the sake of finding this coordination between the exhalation as the belly goes in. Nice and light. Very nice. And now once you find that rhythm and you do feel the coordination between your belly and their exhalation, So again, That's the equal inhale, Equal exhale with a focus on the exhalation. You can close your mouth and continue to breathe the same way through the nose. So at the beginning It's probably going to be a little bit slower and that's totally okay. With time, Your internal organs will become stronger and more flexible, And you will be able to do it a little bit faster. After you practice for a while, Your breath becomes about two breaths per second, Like so. So, Let's do it together for about 30 seconds. Place right hand on your belly so you still feel the connection to your belly. Inhale halfway through the nose. And exhale, Let's begin. Even if you feel comfortable here, You might want to close your eyes. So really connect to your breath. You Beautiful. Take a deep inhale through the nose. Suspend the breath for a moment. Keep your eyes closed. And exhale. Well done! So you can practice the Breath of Fire at a slower pace first, And then with time it's going to be a little faster. So a couple more things to note here. First, Ladies, If you're on menstrual cycle or pregnant, Please skip this practice. Breath of fire is not recommended to do while you're menstruating or pregnant. You can always do just simply long, Deep breath. And also if you feel lightheaded. You'll pause, Take a break. And then restart when you feel ready. If you do feel lightheaded, It might be happening because your inhale is not. We are focusing on their active exhalation, But it is still equal inhale and equal exhale. Just remember that it takes time to master this technique. Be patient with yourself. But once you master it, It becomes a really powerful tool in your daily life. Thank you so much for joining me today.