With the rise of yoga in the younger generation and the increasing awareness of mindfulness, the sharing of meditation techniques has long since crossed cultural lines.
Yoga first began in Northern India, almost 5000 years ago. Beginnings of yoga could be found in the Rig Veda, a part of the Vedas. In the Vedas could be found songs, mantras, and rituals that the Brahmans, Vedic priests, would use.
While many use yoga as a means of exercise and stretching here in the United States, yoga is also a mindset, a set of values and beliefs, and a way to reconnect oneself to the body. While not directly religious, it stems from religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism.
Meditation and breathing techniques are perhaps some of my personal favorite exercises in yoga class. It allows me to step away from the hecticness of life and the random stones that get thrown my way and take it all in with a more relaxed mind. Deep breathing especially helps when I’m searching for a quick way to relax before a big test or fall asleep. It’s a way of centering the mind to
Here are a few breathing techniques that I’ve picked up either from the internet or from my own yoga instructor at school.
Disclaimer: I’m by no means a yoga professional at all, this is simply what I’ve picked up in class.
Deep Breathing
This one can really be done in any position, but I find that it works best laying down or sitting up. Personally, I like to inhale through my nose for a slow count of 5, before exhaling through my mouth for a slow count of 7. I’ve always done it so that you inhale for less time than you exhale. Breathe in as deep as you can, really feeling wherever your breath rises and falls, whether that be in your chest, the back of your throat, or your stomach.
Balloon Breathing
Similar to deep breathing, balloon/belly breathing really focuses on breathing with the belly. Starting by sitting up straight, place your hands on your stomach, and notice your breath. Start to lengthen your breaths, and as you breathe in, expand your belly as far as it will go. When you breathe out, collapse your stomach and reverse any expansion that you did. Try your best to breathe in and out for the same amount of time and at a consistent level of oxygen intake and outtake.
Square Breathing
Square breathing is when you inhale for four counts, hold your breath for 4 counts, exhale for four counts, and then hold your breath again for 4 counts. Like a square! It doesn’t have to be 4 counts either, any amount of time will work. The trick is to just focus on yourself and really breathe in deeply. This can be done sitting up or laying down.
Body Scan
More of a meditation technique, but body scans involved laying down on the ground or a bed, closing your eyes, and breathing deeply. Then working from the very tips of your toes all the way up to the roots of the hair on your head, focus your attention on small parts of your body, such as the toes, or the arch of the foot, and move up to the ankle bones, and then the calves. There are several youtube videos as well that guide you through a body scan so that you don’t have to focus on the where to next, only the now. While this certainly takes anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes to even an hour, I’ve always felt far more relaxed afterward.
