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Yoga practice is essentially a breathing practice
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Asana is used as a framework to help practitioners breathe more healthily; However, when practicing, many students do not know how to use posture to help them breathe better, and they are confused about the actions that should be done on an inhalation or exhalation; Also often ask the teacher: is that so? Is my breath right? How’s my breath Such problems; Even people often ask: should I inhale or exhale here; In fact, each action is matched with the most appropriate breathing corresponding to it, but the details of how each action should breathe are not only impossible but also unnecessary
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The practitioner only needs to know the general principles of breathing and action coordination; Today we will discuss this topic
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In yoga for wellness, Gary kraftlow, a yoga anatomist, wrote that “the specific breathing techniques used in posture practice are used to maximize the specific structural effects of inhalation and exhalation, and posture itself can be used as a method to deepen and expand the structural effects of inhalation and exhalation”
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Let’s not forget that breathing always comes first
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Both inhalation and exhalation must take place before action
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When inhaling and exhaling, The physical structure of the body has begun to undergo subtle changes, as shown in the following figure: in the subtle anatomical changes of breathing, the skeletal system plays a great role, especially the ribs and spine
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These bone structures participate in the process of inhalation and breathing and become an auxiliary force to help bring air into and out of the body
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Moreover, the seemingly fixed bone system is actually semi fixed
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It is precisely because of their subtle changes that breathing occurs
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And there is linkage between rib cavity and thoracic vertebra
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It is precisely because of this that in different movements in our yoga posture practice, the movement of spine and breathing must be coordinated – the movement of yoga posture movement should support inhalation when inhaling; When exhaling, support exhalation, not against it
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Let’s cook a few pots of chestnuts..
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Bend the spine forward and stick it to the body to support exhalation, which will focus on the front ribs close to each other, resulting in the reduction of the capacity of the whole chest, This action should be deliberately combined with inward abdominal retraction (below)
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The downward bending of the dog and Cobra spine conforms to the inhaled human structure, It is emphasized here that the anterior ribs are separated from each other, and the volume of the lungs increases, This movement should cooperate with the lifting of the front side of the body from the abdomen to the chest- The whole front side is far away from the navel (below)
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Most torsion postures occur at the thoracic and lumbar ends of the spine
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Rotating the spine will reduce the height of the spine keyboard, which is consistent with the direction of exhalation; When twisting, it should also be compressed to the abdominal cavity, which will lead to an increase in the pressure of the abdominal cavity, which is in line with the upward movement of the diaphragm and the reduction of the chest capacity – also in line with the exhalation, so entering the twisting action is in line with the exhalation (below)
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Entering the scoliosis is to move the body structure towards the exhalation direction, that is, the ribs in the front of the body are close to each other; However, creating lateral bends on the long side of the body can only occur when the rib cavity is far away from the pelvis, that is, moving the ribs away from each other on the long side of the body, which increases the capacity of the chest and is a physical behavior in cooperation with inhalation; This is why we exhale into scoliosis, and then inhale to deepen the posture (below)
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The spine extension action stretches the spine upward, with the chest lifting and ribs separated from each other, which is in line with the inhalation mode
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At this time, we should consciously expand the chest (below)
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We can also consciously do these actions to cooperate with breathing to make efficient structural changes of the human body, For example, extending your arms upward and widening your chest can support better inhalation; Lower your arms, tuck in your abdomen, bend forward and twist your spine to help you exhale better
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This doesn’t mean that we can’t breathe in when we put down our arms, but that we should consciously choose to let the body strengthen the natural changes of body structure when breathing, that is, we should follow the waves with the rise and fall of breathing in the process of postural practice – just like a surfer
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This will make practice more “organic” and “harmony with heaven”, so as to bring better nourishment to people’s physical and mental health
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At the same time, practice will become more relaxed
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(end of the article) Lu Lu’s Yoga knowledge grocery store Ashtanga Yoga Online Course recommendation Hit below“
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