Breathe (Week 12)
Hey Yogis,
It might seem obvious but breathing is SO important - we literally couldn’t live without it. Yet, how often do you actually pay attention to your breath? Probably not very often.
The good news is, sometimes all it takes to change your mood or mindset is simply following a few breaths closely. This can bring your attention into your body and help you to deal with anything that’s going on outside it.
In Yoga, the practise of altering or focusing on your breath is called ‘Pranayama’ and teaches us to be conscious of our breathing in order to unlock the power that it can have. While there are loads of breathing exercises out there, with a range of purposes even extending into therapy and healing, it can also include just breathing deeply, in and out.
Breathing properly helps to deliver oxygen efficiently through your body, calm your mind, and connect with your spirit. Simply by focusing on the breath we can relax ourselves and slow down our thoughts.
See if you can take a moment to close your eyes, feel the breath filling your stomach and chest, and carrying energy through your body, before you exhale out, releasing any tension and negative energy that was locked up inside. Nice, huh?
If you haven’t heard of Yoga with Adriene, she has loads and loads of YouTube yoga classes and is absolutely amazing! She’s currently running a 30 day yoga journey centred on the breath, so I’ve added the first seven days to a playlist if you’d like to check it out this week! Each class has a different theme, but she teaches you to focus on your breath in all of them, making it perfect for this week’s theme.
Enjoy!
Love the Liv Yoga Committee x
YT Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw_S3JN5IeyswMpT0O7GjFxPkLjCNQDny
