Hi,
And welcome back.
In today's practice,
We're going to explore a breathing technique called Viloma Pranayama,
Better known as against the wave breathing.
V means against and loma means hair actually,
But together,
Viloma means against the natural flow.
Viloma is an interrupted breathing technique where you pause briefly during your breath.
And this pranayama gently introduces the concept of expanding the length of your breath and also your lung capacity.
This practice can be practiced either sitting,
Standing,
Or even lying down and is a really great technique for anybody who might be new to yoga breathing techniques.
Some benefits of Viloma Pranayama include it helps to improve control of your breath and also the movement of air within your own body.
It can also help you to cool down after you've had a pretty active day or workout or yoga class.
And research has also shown that practicing Viloma Pranayama can help you to relax,
Be less anxious,
And help to reduce stress.
So it's a nice technique to add in anytime during your day.
How we're going to practice today,
There are three different ways to practice this breathing technique.
So you can practice paused inhalation.
That means that while you breathe in,
You take pauses every couple seconds and then breathe out normally.
Then there's paused exhalation,
And that means you breathe in normally.
And then as you exhale,
You pause every couple seconds until the air is all out.
And the third way is practicing both paused inhalation and paused exhalation together.
So we're going to practice all three ways today together,
Each for about three minutes.
But before we get started,
A couple tips for practicing Viloma Pranayama.
So when trying this,
Really try to be aware of the movement of breath in your body.
Notice as the air comes in through your nose where it's traveling to next.
If you like,
It can be nice to try to target different areas of your lungs,
Your chest,
Your entire rib cage cavity after each pause or interruption.
And this will help you to really try to control the movement of air in your body.
And then another tip,
Try to keep your breathing relaxed and soft.
Try to avoid grasping for more breath and rather focus on keeping the quality of the breath gentle and relaxed.
So before we get started,
I will explain it quickly and then we will practice together.
And between each different style,
The paused inhalation,
The paused exhalation,
And both together,
I will pause and explain that we were going to change the practice type.
So for the paused inhalation,
As I mentioned,
This involves inhaling and exhaling.
But while you breathe in,
You pause every couple seconds.
So maybe you inhale for two seconds,
Take a brief pause,
Then inhale for another couple seconds and pause.
And then inhale completely till your lungs feel full of air.
And then exhale normally,
Gentle and controlled.
When practicing this alone,
You can take as many pauses as you like until you fill up your breath.
For the purposes of this practice,
We will take a total of two pauses.
So we will inhale,
Pause,
Continue to inhale,
Pause,
Inhale fully.
And then exhale slowly and controlled.
And this is the method that we'll use to practice for our paused inhalation.
So to get ready to practice,
Go ahead and find a comfortable spot.
So you can be standing up,
Sitting down,
Or lying in any relaxed position.
If you take a full deep breath in through your nose wherever you're at,
Feel your long spine.
And then breathe out through your mouth,
Really settle in.
Take one more full breath in through your nose.
Try to relax your shoulders at the very top of your breath.
And then you breathe out through your mouth,
Feel your whole body settle into place.
Feel free to close your eyes and let your hands rest wherever they feel comfortable.
And whenever you're ready,
We'll begin.
So inhale,
Pause,
Inhale,
Pause,
Inhale.
And then exhale slow and controlled.
Inhale,
Pause,
Inhale,
Pause,
Inhale.
And exhale slow and controlled.
Inhale,
Pause,
Inhale,
Pause,
Inhale.
Exhale,
Inhale,
Pause,
Inhale.
Inhale,
Pause,
Inhale,
Pause,
Inhale.
Inhale,
Pause,
Inhale,
Pause,
Inhale.
Inhale,
Pause,
Inhale,
Pause,
Inhale.
Inhale,
Pause,
Inhale,
Pause,
Inhale.
Inhale,
Pause,
Inhale,
Pause,
Inhale.
Inhale,
Pause,
Inhale,
Pause,
Inhale.
Exhale.
Once more,
Inhale,
Pause,
Inhale,
Pause,
Inhale.
Exhale.
Take a full deep breath in and out through your nose.
And breathe naturally.
Next we're going to move to our paused exhalation practice.
And it's very similar.
Instead,
This time we will breathe in uninterrupted,
Filling up your lungs for about five to six seconds.
And then as you exhale,
Breathe out a little bit.
And then after two seconds,
We'll pause.
And then we'll exhale a little bit more.
And then pause.
And then exhale completely.
And then repeat with our long,
Slow inhale.
So again,
Very similar if you're practicing this alone without guidance,
Feel free to pause and take as many exhales as you need to be completely empty of breath.
But for this guided practice,
We'll take it in three steps.
We'll breathe in,
And then exhale,
Pause,
Exhale,
Pause,
And then exhale completely.
Before we repeat our inhale.
So again,
We'll practice it for about two to three minutes.
If you've changed positions,
Go ahead and find your comfortable spot once more.
Allow your eyes to close.
If you feel comfortable doing so.
Take a full deep breath in through your nose,
Soften your shoulders,
Relax your spine.
And then exhale completely settle into your spot.
And we'll begin.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale completely.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale completely.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale completely.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale completely.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale completely.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale completely.
Once more.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale completely.
Take a full deep breath in and out.
Continue to breathe naturally in and out through your nose.
And for our final round of this practice,
We will take both a paused inhalation and a paused exhalation.
And for this guided practice,
We will continue with taking three steps to inhale and three steps to exhale.
So inhaling and then pausing twice.
And then exhaling and pausing twice.
Come back to your comfortable spot.
Check in,
Settle in.
Soften your gaze or close your eyes.
Breathe in through your nose fully.
Breathe out through your mouth completely.
And we'll begin.
Inhale.
Pause.
Inhale.
Pause.
Inhale completely.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale completely.
Inhale.
Pause.
Inhale.
Pause.
Inhale completely.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale completely.
Inhale.
Pause.
Inhale.
Pause.
Inhale completely.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale completely.
Inhale.
Pause.
Inhale.
Pause.
Inhale completely.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale completely.
Inhale.
Pause.
Inhale.
Pause.
Inhale completely.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale completely.
Last time.
Inhale.
Pause.
Inhale.
Pause.
Inhale completely.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale.
Pause.
Exhale completely.
Take an uninterrupted full breath in.
And an uninterrupted full breath out.
Come back to your natural rhythm of breathing in and out through your nose.
Take a moment to notice in stillness how your body feels,
How your mind feels.
Knowing that you can come back to this feeling anytime by bringing awareness to your breath.
Giving yourself a moment of stillness to practice your mindfulness.
Whenever you feel ready,
Gently blink your eyes open if they were closed.
Take one final deep breath in through your nose,
The deepest breath so far today.
And then open your mouth and sigh it all out.
Thank you so much for practicing with me.
And have a nice day.
.
