Breathing Techniques

One of my yoga teachers says we don’t notice the breath until we’re out of it.

By the time I started a yoga teacher training in 2011, I was out of it, both figuratively and literally: my breath was labored, shallow, strained. I was a first-year 4^th grade teacher, and my heart was always racing, whether I was standing in front of my classroom, lying in bed, or brushing my teeth. I was clearly overwhelmed, my body was rebelling, and I couldn’t find the off switch. I was sure my short, panicky breaths were announcing my anxiety to the world.

Power struggles seem to be more and more common as the number of individuals “taking back their power” increases. Where perhaps men, corporations, religious figures, medical practitioners and “anyone in a position of authority” used to automatically assume the upper hand in both conversation and assumed appropriate action, these days individuals are learning how to manage their own lives. Yogic breathing is the perfect tool to use when looking at how to alleviate the potentially harmful affects of power-struggles in any relationship situation, be it work, intimate or otherwise.

4-7-8 breathing is the kegel of mindfulness cultivation. You can do it quickly, any time, anywhere, with great results, and without anyone even noticing (okay, unless you’re in the middle of a conversation and decide to practice deep breathing—you got me there). As an added bonus, its practice isn’t limited to beings of the female variety. In fact, it’s not limited to anyone at all. You don’t have to be female, crunchy, green, hip, square, a yogi, a hippie, or an MD. You just have to breathe.

Breathing. You might say it’s important.

Sure, we know it is life juice – a necessity to think, do, speak, say, move about our ways. But what is the real deal behind breathing? Why do yogis and mindfulness practitioners believe in the power of the breath?