The Big Bad Wolf uses his breath to blow the house down. You use your breath to build your practice up.
Alice is reading the story of the Three Little Pigs to her nephews. She reads the part where the Big Bad Wolf huffed and puffed…
So he knocked at the door and said: “Little pig! Little pig! Let me in! Let me in!”
But the little pig peeped through the keyhole and saw the wolf’s great ears, so he answered back: “No! No! No! by the hair of my chinny chin chin!”
Then the wolf showed his teeth and said: “Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house in!”
So he huffed and he puffed and he blew the house in.
The Big Bad Wolf is the villain in the Three Little Pigs story but from a yoga practice point of view the wolf has one good feature.
What is good about the big bad wolf
The breath is a big deal for the Big Bad Wolf and the breath is an important part of Alice’s yoga practice.
In your yoga practice your paying attention to your breath. You breathe in a deliberate way. Taking deep breaths brings lots of oxygen into your lungs. You breathe in and out through your nose at a steady and uniform pace through out your yoga practice.
The Big Bad Wolf uses his breath to blow down two of the three houses that the pigs built. Alice uses her breath to enhance her yoga practice.
Why is the breath good for you
Your breath is an important part of your yoga practice. It brings several benefits to your yoga practice including:
- Heats up your body
- Provides lots of energy
- Helps you to move further in a pose
- Provides a focus
Heats up your body
When you breathe deeply and with a purpose during your yoga practice you bring lots of oxygen into your lungs. Oxygen is the fuel that makes your body go. The more fuel that you provide the hotter your body will get.
As you heat the body up your muscles will become soft. Warm and soft muscles are easier to stretch an lengthen. They will be able to stretch further without risk of injury.
Your breath not only heats your body up it also provides lots of energy.
Provides lots of energy
Focusing on your breath brings lots of oxygen into your body. This increases your energy level and your practice will be more vigorous.
Alice has noticed in the past that when she forgets about her breath and breathes in a normal fashion that her energy levels drop.
Besides increasing your energy level, you can use your breath to get further into a pose.
Helps you to move further in a pose
Your breath:
– Heats up your body
– Provides lots of energy
– Helps you to move further in a pose
– Provides a focus
Focusing on your breath as you are working on a pose will tell you if you have gone too far or if you can go further still.
If your breath is restricted you have gone too far into a pose. It is time to back off a little bit until your breath is less constrained.
If your breath is moving easily then you can probably go a little further into the pose. Keep working on going further until your breath starts to become challenged and then back off a little bit.
Your breath can get your further into a pose but it also helps you to pay attention.
Provides a focus
Because you are breathing deliberately you have to pay attention to your breath. You focus on how you are breathing.
- Are you breathing in through your nose and out through your nose?
- Are you breathing deeply?
- Are you inhales as long as your exhales?
There is a lot to pay attention to with your breath. You can not let your mind wonder and still breathe properly.
Because you focus on your breath you can’t think about anything else. Your mind stays focused on the present moment and your yoga practice. This focus relaxes your mind. Because you focus on your breath and your yoga practice you are less likely to injury yourself.
Breathing with a purpose for your entire yoga practice is a challenging activity.
But I forget about my breath
Alice remembers when she first started practising yoga. After the first couple of breaths she forgot all about breathing. Her yoga breathing disappears replaced by her normal breath.
Her yoga teacher told her that this is normal. Over time as she continues to practice yoga she will remember to use her yoga breathing for longer periods of time.
Alice now uses her yoga breath throughout her yoga practice. It has become second nature to her. It is natural for her to use her yoga breath during her yoga practice.
Summary
Alice like the Big Bad Wolf uses her breath as a tool. It helps her to improve her yoga practice. But she won’t be blowing down any houses anytime soon.
Next Step
Ask your yoga teacher to help you with your yoga breathing.
Additional Reading
To learn more about improving your yoga practice using your breath read How to use the steam engine to find your edge.
The article How the Ujjayi breath improves your yoga practice gives you more detail about a particular type of yoga breathing
For more about managing where you are in a pose read What your breath can tell you about your yoga pose.
