Downward Facing Blog

To recap; the breath is the energetic link between the body and the mind. The inner breath flows where we put our concentration to, and generally in yoga there is a focus to draw the inner breath upwards towards the crown of the head. To help draw the energy upwards, the pelvic floor is contracted, and the breath is visualized as traveling up along the central channel of the spine when we inhale.

I love this subject by the way.

There are more subtlties that few will talk about or teach: You can balance out any constitutional leaning or imbalance created through lifestyle or your practice through the breath. 

FIRE: If you or your practice is firey (Pitta) you can use a cooling pranayama (should be taught in all hot yoga classes!) such as seetali. This is done by inhaling through the tongue when curling it into a tube. Notice how this directs the breath into the stomach, which is different than the usual Ujjayi which focuses on the throat.

WIND: When you notice that your mind is scattered, with too much wind element (Vata) the breath can help you to calm this down. Vata does well with standard alternate nostril breathing (nadi shodana), which, when done WITHOUT Ujjayi  will target the prana to enter the head space. When not done to excess, pranayama is very helpful for Vata types and conditions as it brings out the higher aspect of Vata, which is prana.

WATER: For the slower, heavier turns of minds or constitutions, which is made up of the great elements of water and earth, it may be necessary to find balance through firey pranayama such as kapalabhati and bhastrika. In the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, a classic text on the practice it is said: “Ujjayi decreases high Kapha, particularly in the throat and increases the digestive fire”. In fact, the air-like quality in the body from pranayama helps to dry out the water element in the body/mind which helps this consitutional type to find balance.

So in recap, although it is generally taught to always bring the breath upwards in the spine for the progression of the spiritual life, there are cases in which we want to re-target the breath to different parts of the body, such as the stomach (breathing through the mouth, diaphramatic breath) for increasing kapha/cooling into the mind. Or heating with kapalabhati and balancing through alternate nostril breathing.

Stay reading, some more interesting blogging on breath secrets coming