Why do I put the emphasis on breath so much in yoga? Well… breathe less move slow live longer! Just observe a turtle and a dog’s breathing and movement and we will understand the longevity of the turtle.
We use conscious breath in my yoga classes. Firstly, the conscious breath brings us to the present moment. secondly, it allow us to be able to access different layers of consciousness. Thirdly, it affects the way we feel physically, emotionally and mentally. Conscious breath push through any emotional and physical blockages and gradually free the body and mind. That’s why we feel good at the end of our yoga practice. Furthermore, conscious breath relaxes and balances the emotion controlling areas of the brain.
In yoga, conscious breath is the easiest way to train our prana. Breath and prana are not the same, we can still breathe but our prana is weak, for examples when we are ill. In yoga we use conscious breath or pranayama to train our prana. Once we can feel prana of the body we are able to direct the prana to our organs or different areas of the body. So Breath does matter!