Welcome to this practice.
Today we will be learning and practicing mahad breath,
Mahad pranayama.
This is sometimes called the three-part breath,
The full yogic breath.
This is the correct way to breathe at all times,
So it's an important basic practice to master before moving on to other pranayama techniques.
The three parts of the breath are the belly,
The ribs,
And the upper chest into the collar bones.
So the practice is to make sure that we're getting breath into all three of these parts starting from the bottom.
But for the breath to be one long smooth breath.
So the goal is to breathe first into the belly,
Move it up into the ribs where we can literally feel the ribs expanding,
And then moving the breath up into the upper chest all the way up,
Imagining it's going all the way up into the collar bones as one long smooth breath.
And then turning the breath around with no gap,
No pause,
And exhaling through these three parts,
But as one long smooth breath.
It's very important that the inhale and the exhale are the same length and that there are no gaps,
Hiccups,
Pauses throughout the process.
This is proper yogic breathing.
This is the full yogic breath.
This is mahad pranayama.
Today's practice,
We will work with an eight count breath.
Eight counts inhale,
Eight counts exhale,
With no gaps at the top or the bottom,
Just simply turning the breath around like a smooth curve,
In and out,
In and out.
We're going to use an eight count for this practice.
If that doesn't work for you,
You are welcome to do this practice with whatever count feels comfortable for you until you can work your way up to an eight count.
Maybe you start with a four count,
Or a five count,
Or a six count,
Or a seven count.
Check what feels good for your body and where your current lung capacity is now.
And work your way towards,
Ideally,
A one-to-one eight count breath.
When we say one-to-one,
We're talking about the ratio of the inhale and the exhale.
Eight in and eight out is a one-to-one ratio,
Just as is four in and four out.
So it's important that this breath is a one-to-one ratio for this pranayama.
There will be other pranayamas that I will teach you that will have different ratios and they're for different reasons,
But again,
This is the one breath that you want to master before you move into any other breath work pranayama.
This is ancient yogic science.
This is passed down over thousands of years,
Tried and true,
And very helpful for your health,
For regulating your nervous system,
For oxygenating your body.
There are countless benefits to this breath work,
So just know that as you devote yourself to this practice,
That you are doing a world of good for your entire being,
Body,
Mind,
And spirit.
So we'll go for five minutes.
I'll guide you part of the way,
And then I'll guide you to do your own counting,
Because I desire to empower you to do this yourself without guidance at some point.
Use the guidance as long as you need,
And then at some point,
Leave the guidance behind and follow your own inner guidance.
Let's begin by exhaling all of our breath.
And now inhaling for eight.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Exhale for eight.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Inhale for eight.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Exhale for eight.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Inhale for eight.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Exhale for eight.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Inhale for eight.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Exhale for eight.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Inhale for eight.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Exhale for eight.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Inhale for eight.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Exhale for eight.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Continue on your own.
Inhaling for eight.
Exhaling for eight.
Being sure as you go.
The breath is coming up from filling the belly,
Into the ribs,
Up into the upper lungs and the collarbones,
And then turning it around,
And exhaling it out.
One long,
Smooth breath.
Last minute here.
Inhaling for eight.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Exhaling for eight.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Inhaling for eight.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Exhaling for eight.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Inhaling for eight.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Exhaling for eight.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Now you can continue as long as you would like to,
Or return to your normal breathing.
And I invite you to practice this for a minimum of five minutes a day,
And notice how it changes your life.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
Namaste.
