Bikram yoga opens with a breathing exercise known as Standing Deep Breathing or Pranayama. This breathing exercise is fantastic for the lungs and respiratory system. It involves taking very deep breaths in by the nose and out by the mouth but always through the throat (nose and mouth are passageways). The lungs and throat are connected and the throat is where the emphasis should be placed when breathing.

Inhaling and exhaling for ideally six seconds to start the practice oxygenates the blood and allows for a mindful connection between the mind, body and breath. Pranayama is most likely the deepest breathing you will do throughout the day, savour it, enjoy it. Pranayama opens our chest, maximizing the lung capacity while keeping a correctly aligned spine (more on this later). 

We want to keep jerkiness out of the movement; we want to move with fluidity. For instance, don’t snap your head back or forward at any point. To be fluent, we move slowly, gracefully coordinating the long breaths with the movement. As we try to stretch our breath to six seconds, we should do the same with our movements. You can see this connection in all forms of yoga, where the breath and pose are in harmony. 

When focusing on technique, it is imperative to keep the shoulders down and away from the ears. Doing this relieves unnecessary tension and stress held in the neck. Alongside this, always be aware of your elbows. Keeping the elbows up at all times (after the initial breath) is the goal. If this isn’t possible right now, that’s okay, so long as you try your best to relax the shoulders. The arms and the head should be the only things moving. When this is done right it will lead to fuller and deeper breaths. 

As briefly mentioned earlier, the spine plays a more significant role than you may have assumed. As we transition between inhalations and exhalations, we should always keep the spine straight. Do this by contracting the hips to bring them slightly forward, opening the chest to keep from rounding the back and shoulders, and contracting the core to stabilize the lower back. All of this will not only induce the deepest of breathing but will also help you to realize proper alignment. 

The last and potentially most crucial technique to mention is the depression of the abdominal wall. What does this mean? Well, it means sucking in the stomach to make the rib cage visible in the mirror. Sucking in the stomach is done during the inhale and exhale. When you exhale, you bring the elbows down parallel to the floor with the head back at the same time. This ensures that we maintain that contraction of the abdomen. As a tip, during the exhale, think of it as trying to expel every last bit of air out of the lungs by contracting the core.

Starting with Pranayama helps to relax our minds, be present, increase our lung capacity, improve our posture and cleanse ourselves. It’s the perfect way to start our practice off on the right foot.

To watch the associated video on youtube click here: Bikram Series #1 - Standing Deep Breathing

By Cohl Ronholm