Pranayama is translated in a few different ways, for some, it means to extend (or increase) vital lifeforce energy, whilst for others, it translates to the control and cessation of the breath which is inextricably linked to prana (vital lifeforce energy).
Irrespective of how it is translated, the practice of pranayama relates to both breathwork and subtle energy work.
Breathwork and subtle energetic work (pranayama) are central to yoga asana—and help to differentiate yoga from gymnastics, exercise, dance and other kinds of movement-based practices.
One of the reasons for this is that the mind is connected to the breath, and we can induce meditation by working with mindful awareness of the breath as a tool for moving meditation.
In this article, we take a look at some fundamental principles of breathwork for both beginner and experienced yoga practitioners.
What Are The Principle Rules For Breathing In Yoga?
There are a variety of different pranayama techniques, some of which:
- Should be practised during asana (yoga posture) practice
- Should be practised on their own as standalone techniques
- Can be practised both on their own as standalone techniques and during asana practice
It is really important to get proper guidance and feedback from an experienced yoga teacher to ensure that you’re undertaking your pranayama practice properly—especially for more intricate techniques.
Depending on the yoga tradition and teacher, there are different techniques used to guide the breath during yoga asana classes.
Here are some of the general golden rules for proper breathing during yoga, and the ones I teach. Unless instructed otherwise, these rules guide how your breathwork should be maintained for the duration of your practice.
Please bear in mind, that although these principles of pranayama practice may seem easy on paper, it is very common for them to be challenging—especially when trying to consistently maintain them throughout your practice.
You will build this level of concentration over time, so it is important to be patient with your pranayama practice. Whenever your mind wanders, simply bring it back to these fundamental principles to regain your concentration and moving meditation.
As a precaution, it’s important to tell your yoga teacher if you have any mental, emotional, or physical conditions, illnesses, or considerations that would affect you exploring or using breathwork such as (but not limited to); pregnancy, asthma, and low or high blood pressure.
You will be guided in all of these principles throughout the duration of your practice, but it’s still important to understand them theoretically to deeply enhance your practice if you’re keen to take your yoga practice to the next level…
1. The Breath Should Be Flowing Freely, Deeply, Smoothly, And Comfortably
During your yoga asana class, your breath should be flowing freely, deeply, smoothly and comfortably—at all times.
The breath can help you to understand more about your yoga practice, such as if you’re pushing yourself too fast, too deep in asanas, or if you’re moving and breathing mindlessly.
Pay attention to the sensations of the breath. When there is a lack of concentration on the breath, or the yoga postures are beyond the practitioner’s comfort capacity there can be a tendency to hold the breath or use short, shallow and jagged breathing when moving and holding yoga postures.
Whatever pose you’re in your breath should feel effortless, smooth and relaxed—use your breath as a guide to inform and tailor your yoga practice.
Don’t overly worry if your breathing doesn’t begin like this, because these fundamentals of yoga breathing develop over time with consistent practice.
2. Breathe Through Your Nostrils Unless Instructed Otherwise
For the most part, unless instructed otherwise, you’ll be breathing through your nose.
There are some specific pranayama techniques that require mouth breathing.
For example, your yoga teacher might invite you to let out a ‘big sigh’ to release tension. And it is common for them to guide you to inhale deeply, and let out a big exhale through the mouth.
Other than when you are guided to breathe through the mouth, always assume that you’re breathing through your nose unless you are told otherwise.
One of the main functions of the nose is to be a natural filtration system for air entering the body.¹ Your nose helps to filter, warm, and humidify air before it enters the lungs for a vital gas exchange process.
Nose breathing also helps to reduce the physical cooling and drying effect of mouth breathing (due to increased ventilation during your moving meditation).
But aside from the physical benefits of nose breathing, it can also affect your subtle energy during yoga practice too.
On a subtle energetical level, the cooling effects of mouth breathing can disrupt your building upon the element of fire during your yoga practice.
Furthermore, the nostrils are connected to two of the main subtle energy channels (nadis) within the body.
The left nostril is associated with ida nadi, and the right nostril is associated with pingala nadi. Breathing equally through the nostrils helps to balance the subtle energy on the lunar and solar sides of the subtle body—which is beneficial preparation for meditation.
3. Inhale When Opening Up The Frontline Of The Body
In yoga, we want our asanas (yoga poses) to support and deepen the breath, which also supports and deepens our moving meditation.
There are exceptions to the rule, but in general, you’ll be inhaling as you open up the frontline of the body, and you’ll be exhaling as you compress the frontline of the body.
When you inhale, the frontline of the body, chest, abdomen, and ribs expand and swell as the diaphragm moves downwards in the torso to increase space in your chest cavity for air to enter and fill the lungs.
When you exhale, the frontline of the body contracts and shrinks as the diaphragm moves upwards in the torso and air exits the lungs.
It’s important to keep these inner mechanics in mind, as you move on your yoga mat.
In general, you’ll inhale on a backbend such as setu bandhasana (bridge pose), or as you raise your head or arms in poses such as bhujangasana (cobra pose) and tadasana (mountain pose).
In such poses, we are inhaling to open up the body, extend and lengthen the spine, and also provide extra room and space for the lungs and diaphragm to move accordingly—which supports both good form in the asana and your breathwork practice.
4. Exhale When Compressing The Frontline Of The Body
In opposition to inhaling as we open the frontline of the body, when compressing the frontline of the body, twisting the spine, or restricting the expansion of the chest cavity we exhale to deepen the asana and support the breath.
When you exhale as you compress the frontline of the body or twist the spine you are supporting the physical dynamics of the frontline of the body, chest, abdomen, and ribs contracting and shrinking as your diaphragm moves upwards in the torso and air leaves the lungs.
In general, you’ll exhale on standing or seated forward folds such as paschimottanasana (seated forward fold pose) and padahastasana (standing forward fold), during spinal twists such as ardha matsyendrasana (half lord of the fishes pose), as you’re releasing your arms downwards to exit an asana, or as you enter side bends such as trikonasana (triangle pose).
5. Observe The Natural Pause (Kumbhak) Inbetween Inhalation And Exhalation
In day-to-day life, we often don’t notice the quality of our breath. Breathing is just something that happens via the autonomic nervous system—whether we think about it or not, our respiratory system functions.
Whereas in yoga, we pay conscious attention to the breath because the mind and breath are closely interconnected.
During yoga practice, we use breathing techniques, and concentration on the breath, as a tool to access meditation.
In between inhalation (puraka) and exhalation (rechaka) there is an ever so slight natural pause, or retention (kumbhak), in the breathing rhythm—a brief moment in which you neither inhale nor exhale as you transition between the two.
Try not to force the pause, control it or manipulate it in any way—simply observe it, witness it, and acknowledge its presence.
6. The Breath Leads Your Movement
Your yoga practice (on the mat) is a dance between asana, pranayama, mudra, and bandha.
There is an intentional process of uniting yoga poses, with the breath—whilst using energetic seals and energetic locks to control the flow of prana (vital life force energy) in such a way that is conducive to meditation and holistic health.
Yoga stands apart from other physical practices such as dance or gymnastics because we allow the breath to lead and guide our movement.
In yoga asana, you combine pranayama into the practice by synchronising each bodily movement with an inhale or exhale, and you allow the breath to guide your movement by leading with the breath first before you begin your movement.
7. The Breath Encompasses Your Body Movement
In yoga asana, we use a specific concentration technique in order to let the breath lead and initiate our movement.
This technique involves ensuring that our breath encompasses (or envelopes around) our movement.
When you’re paying close attention to your breathing, you’ll notice that it creates a movement in your torso. As you inhale, your abdomen, chest, and torso swell and expand.
And as you exhale your abdomen, chest, and torso contract and shrink. The movement of your respiratory system is central to the rest of your movement through yoga asana.
Your respiratory system creates a wave of movement at the centre of your body which becomes the epicentre and landmark for all other movement.
The movement of your breath leads to all other movements, like a wave rippling out from the centre of your body. Your yoga asana becomes an extension of the movement of your pranayama practice.
The movement of your breath, is the movement of your body—you cannot breath without moving your body.
In order to ensure this happens, we begin the breath before we move, and by enveloping the breath around each movement you are able to ensure that your breath is the guide.
8. Concentrate On The Breath And The Breathing Techniques
Concentration (dharana) is the 6th limb of the 8 limbs of yoga (ashtanga).
Proper concentration is key to ensuring that you’re able to refine your breathing practice (pranayama) and adhere to the fundamental principles of breathwork.
Not only does proper concentration help you to improve your pranayama each time you practice, but concentration leads to meditation.
The aim is to maintain deep, rhythmic, diaphragmatic breathing throughout the practice, and to sustain a conscious connection to your breath throughout the yoga practice.
But, it is common for the mind to wander during yoga practice, so whenever you become conscious that your mind is wandering, that you’re following a train of thought, or that you’ve lost connection with your breath—simply draw your awareness back to your breath and your breathing techniques.
Don’t be hard on yourself if you find your mind drifting.
Do not be fooled—although these yogic techniques seem simple on paper, they are undoubtedly an advanced practice that is developed over time with consistent effort!
Don’t get disheartened, just keep practising with full faith that you’ll progress and master your art in time.
9. Ujjayi Pranayama — Victorious Breath
Ujjayi breath is a pranayama technique that translates to ‘victorious breath’ but is often also called ‘ocean breath’ due to the sound that is produced when practised.
You can practice ujjayi within your asana practice, or as a standalone breathwork practice whilst in a seated position to prepare for meditation.
We use ujjayi throughout our asana practice to extend the duration of each breath, soothe the nervous system, and enhance our concentration to encourage meditation.
During ujjayi pranayama you will gently constrict the glottis (in the throat) to produce an ocean sound.
It’s important to remember that all breathing techniques, such as ujjayi breath, are dropped during the relaxation phase (shavasana).
10. Dirga Pranayama — 3 Part Yogic Breath
Dirga pranayama is a breathing technique that translates to ‘complete breath’ but it is also said to mean ‘deep’ or ‘long’.
You’ll often find dirga pranayama called the ‘three-part breath’ or the ‘3 part yogic breath’.
Dirga pranayama technique can be used within your yoga asana practice, or as a standalone breathing technique used in a seated position to help prepare for meditation (dhyana).
In our yoga asana practice we use dirga pranayama (the 3 part yogic breath) to ensure full, deep, long, and complete inhales and exhales are taken.
Like with ujjayi breath, we cease the conscious use of dirga pranayama during the relaxation phase (shavasana).
During day-to-day life, it is common for people to breathe by only partially using the lungs, often known as shallow breathing.
Within dirga pranayama, you’ll consciously use the entire lungs to breathe to strengthen your respiratory system, regulate the nervous system, and as a tool for meditation.
There is also a tendency to hold the breath, or use short and shallow breathing when holding postures or moving through sequences of challenging postures—which creates stress and tension in the body.
Using dirga pranayama helps us to create a calm, deep, and steady flow of breath to induce relaxation in the mind and body.
11. Keep The Inhale Equal To The Exhale
Throughout your yoga asana practice, unless instructed otherwise, you’ll want to keep the inhale and exhale as equal as possible—in terms of depth, length, and sound.
On an energetic level, pranayama practice helps to balance the subtle energy body which prepares the practitioner for meditation. The inhale is correlated to lunar energy, and the exhale is correlated to solar energy.
In order to create harmony and balance these two opposing subtle energetic forces, we aim to keep both the inhale and exhale as equal as possible.
12. Let Go Of Any Breathwork Techniques In Relaxation (And Awareness Phases)
Within the final resting pose of your yoga practice (shavasana), it is important to release any control of the breath—simply allow your breath to come to its own natural rhythm, pace, and depth.
During shavasana, we relax, release, and observe. Simply allowing the fruits of your practice to effortlessly permeate your mind, body, and soul—without any interference.
Pay attention to the sensations of your breath when you release all control.
How are you breathing? Fast or slow? Deeply or shallow? Rhythmic or erratic? Smoothly or jagged?
The same goes for any awareness phases in between our sequence of postures. In the awareness phases between postures, you will be invited to drop any control of the breath to become an observer of whatever is present.
Awareness phases are a good time to become a witness to the body, mind, and breath. Without any control, simply observe the sensations present in the body and breath—and notice the quality and quantity of your thoughts.
13. Allow The Breath To Inform You
The breath holds valuable insight into your yoga practice. Through your breath, you can observe where you’re doing well and your strengths versus challenges and obstacles that you can improve upon.
Your breath can inform you of what is happening in your mind, with your emotions, and in your body.
Because the breath and the mind are inextricably linked, when there is a disturbance in your mind this is often reflected in your breath, and when there is a disturbance with your breath this is likewise reflected in your mind.
For example, when you feel scared or in pain your breathing will become short, sharp, shallow and rapid.
And similarly, if you can’t breathe properly (for example, due to an obstruction), you will become mentally and emotionally distressed because you need to breathe properly in order to survive.
With regards to your asana and pranayama practice, if your breath is relaxed, deep, long, and smooth it conveys that you’re most likely practising within your capacity.
Rhythmic breathing suggests that you’re practising within some level of comfort, even though you may be gently seeking to improve your practice, you’re still relaxed and calm—which is the perfect environment for meditation to arise.
Whereas if you’re holding your breath, or your breath is uneven, jagged, short, strained and rapid it can convey the opposite.
It often means you’re practising a little too ‘deeply’ or ‘hard’ for your current capacity, that you’re perhaps trying to push yourself too far too soon, or that you’re over-striving.
It can also signify that there is discomfort—or even pain—within your body and mind.
It suggests that your thoughts are disturbed and you’re possibly experiencing mental and physical stress—which is not an ideal environment for meditation to occur.
Through the feedback of the breath, you can understand where you are able to go a bit deeper into your practice, by finding your ‘edge’ and the borderline in which your breath becomes irregular and stressed.
And similarly, it also advises you where you need to ‘pull back’ in your practice to maintain good form in posture, breath, and mind.
One of the reasons that this is so important, is because the aim of your yoga asana is to attain a moving meditation.
Meditation becomes a lot harder to achieve when there is a disturbance not only in your mind, with unnecessary trains of thought being created, but also disturbances in your body due to discomfort, pain, or over striving past your physical capacity.
Your breath can also inform you of your speed of practice due to the breath encompassing your movement.
If you are running out of your inhale or exhale before your movement stops, this tells you that you need to move a little quicker.
Similarly, if you have lots of inhale or exhale left after your associated movement stops, this informs you that you can move a lot slower to match your breath with your movements.
Your breath is your superior guide within your yoga practice—and has a million stories to tell if you listen.
If you want to learn more about what your breath is telling you about your yoga practice, check out my article here.
14. Focus On 360° Breathing
Quite often when we think about breathing and the motion of the body, we have this idea of the ribs moving in and out—essentially the upper chest moving forwards and backwards.
But actually, breathing has a 360° motion in all directions.
And within yoga especially, we want to consider the direction of breathing movement from a holistic 360° range of motion.
Instead of considering your upper chest moving forward and back, extend your awareness to a 360° perspective around your entire body.
With your inhale, draw awareness to your body expanding and swelling, not only to the front, but also to the sides and back.
And with your exhale, notice how your front, sides and back contract and shrink.
Notice how your body moves in all directions when you breathe, and maintain this 360° awareness throughout your practice.
15. The Pranayama Technique Should Support The Asana
In general, your teacher will guide you through this, but it is handy to understand what is happening on a deeper level during your practice…
Your asana and pranayama must be considered holistically and must complement your goals or intentions for your practice.
The pranayama techniques used—whether that’s during the entire asana class or just for particular yoga poses—should support the overall aims of the posture and/or the entire class.
On a physiological level, pranayama techniques—such as ujjayi and dirga pranayama—which help to activate the parasympathetic nervous system (responsible for relaxation) also help to support a deeper stretch in your asanas.
This is because they let your muscle fibres know that it’s safe to relax and that you will not be harmed in doing so—which allows your muscle fibres to soften and stretch. As opposed to triggering safety reflexes (which prevent muscle relaxation and stretching) designed to prevent damage to your body.
Your pranayama techniques will also support your asana physiologically when combining the inhale with spine lengthening and back bending, and exhales with forward folds and twists—because you’re combining the movement of the torso with the breath, with a complimentary movement of the body.
You can use each inhale to lengthen the body and to create a sense of space and openness, and you can use each exhale to deepen further into the posture, to relax and release any tension.
The correct use of the breath helps to support your posture, strengthen your form, and provides a good foundation for meditation to occur.
Whilst on an energetic level, each pranayama technique holds different subtle energetic properties. For example, some breathwork practices are energizing and focus on building the element of fire, whereas others are grounding and relaxing and focus on enhancing the element of earth.
You don’t really want to be building fire and rigorous energy through a pranayama practice whilst in a ‘relaxation’ pose at an evening yoga class right before you want to go to bed—good luck sleeping anytime soon!
16. Bandha Naturally Arises With Correct Breathwork
Bandha is an advanced yogic practice that you might or might not venture into depending on how regularly you practice—because your consistency and effort in practice define the depth of your practice.
However, it’s important to include a note on bandha in case you do begin to incorporate it into your practice.
Bandha is an energetic lock that controls and directs the subtle energy through your body as desired in your yoga practice.
When you are mastering the breath during your yoga practice, bandha will naturally arise, at which point you can enhance the bandha and nurture it further.
Much like pranayama, in general, bandha supports your asana—but bandha techniques also support your breathwork and pranayama practice too.
Eventually, your asana, pranayama, bandha, and mudra techniques will become a seamless process where each aspect of your yoga practice is effortlessly combined into a sacred united whole. And your concentration (dharana) on this seamless process, allows you to experience yoga; meditation (dhyana) and union with your higher self.
Check List Of Practical Principles For Breathing In Yoga Asana
There are a lot of things to remember about the breath during yoga! However, a lot of these become ingrained quite quickly, especially as your teacher will be verbally prompting you throughout your yoga class with reminders too.
Here is a ‘6 Principle Check List’ that helps you to remember some of the most important practical rules…
Check List: The 6 Most Important Practical Principles To Remember During Your Yoga Asana Practice
1. The breath flows freely, deeply, smoothly, and comfortably
2. Dirga pranayama
3. The breath encompasses and leads your body movement
4. Keep the inhale and exhale equal
5. Ujjayi pranayama
6. Observe the natural kumbhaka (pauses) in the breath between inhalation and exhalation
Conclusion
Pranayama is a key aspect of yoga practice, but like most things, it does take time, consistency, perseverance and dedication to master.
It can help to practice yogic breathing under the guidance of your yoga instructor which allows you to get feedback. And it can also help to tackle one principle at a time to prevent overwhelm.
Each time you master one principle, add a new one in to your yoga classes to deepen your yoga practice.
If you liked my article, why not share it with your friends?
