The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › Injuries, Restrictions, Ailments, Pose Modifications › Illnesses/Ailments › Breathing Exercises
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Hi Gabrielle,
I have heard that some yoga breathing exercises can be harmful to one’s health, I guess if they are not done correctly. Are the two breathing exercises in hot yoga safe in nature even if they are not done correctly? I am doing a home practice.Thanks for your help!
Sandrahave you heard why or what exercises? ,….. how could breathing be harmful?
I’m not sure exactly which types of breathing exercises…..I don’t know too much about different breathing exercises in yoga so thought I would ask to be sure. I guess some are very intense and I wasn’t sure if the two in hot yoga fell into the same category.
Hi Sandra
I think that most people would be extremely surprised to find out that some very strange things can happen with incorrect breathing.
Fortunately these are rare occurrences and I have only been witness to one (that was a very weird phenomenon indeed which I won’t detail here) and heard about another. Both had to do with incorrect Pranayama technique (the first and not the last exercise). Of course Pranayama is a forced breathing technique so if you are consciously breathing incorrectly and perhaps causing an imbalance in CO2 levels, you could conceivably hyperventilate at any stage throughout the class. These problems seem to be extremely rare.
Staying present with your breath and avoiding struggle will avoid most issues of breathing. Don’t overbreathe, try not to go too deeply with your breath or your pose with undue effort.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Thank you for your reply. I wanted to ask one other question. Would it be possible to do the whole yoga routine without the breathing exercises if one wasn’t up to doing them on a particular day? Or, would the whole routine be futile without them?
Thanks again!
Hi Sandra
I am positive that the whole routine would still have great benefit. I don’t think that is the point however. I am wondering what triggers you to ask the question in the first place.
I can tell you however that “I know the feeling” of not wanting to start the class. Somehow the thought of starting Pranayama in the past has on occasion triggered feelings of dread perhaps because it heralds a whole 90 minutes of hard work. But – here’s the thing – as soon as I start the engagement of body and mind in this rather complex exercise creates a presence that brings me right into my practice in a quick and rather easy way. I have come to really love the way it grounds me.
So, what is it about this exercise that you would rather put aside? Is there a physical issue that makes this pose uncomfortable or is it more a mental obstacle?
I would be very interested to hear your thoughts.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Probably more mental. If I am doing a home practice I don’t want to run into obstacles if I don’t do them properly. The rest of the postures I can exercise a level of control because I know when I have reached my limit in the posture. The breathing I can’t control as easily. I guess if there were no long term repercussions in case there were ever any “reactions” with the breathing exercises then I would be fine with them. Des this make sense or am i being extremely weird/paranoid about it all?
Hi everyone! Just wanted to mention that I have read that the final breathing excercise, Kapivatti, can bring on mania, for people who have bipolar illness…
Hi Sandra
I now have a better handle on what I think is going on for you. Let’s try this one on for size …
It is possible that in this early stage of your practice you are still ‘learning’ how to breathe… Deeply that is. It can be quite disconcerting to have the instructor count for 6 and you unable to get any more air in say, at the count of 3 or 4.
I know the feeling because it happened to me (as it happens for countless others). It took me more than 5 months before I could go through an entire set of Pranayama without sneaking in another breath or feeling as if I couldn’t go any further.
So is it possible that you are experiencing something like that? That you feel as if your breath is caught in your chest and you can’t expand yourself enough for the duration of the breath cycles?
If that is the case, then just keep working on it. On the zenith of YOUR inhale, when you can’t breathe in any more then simply hold your breath. Then exhale in as controlled manner as you can and if you can’t get any more out then just see if you can hold it or indeed take a quick sip of air. You will notice how your body will adapt and your lungs will become larger and have more capacity.
It is about patience and surrender. There is no schedule for you to get this right. Just do what you can and enjoy the path to a much fuller more vibrant breath.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂 -
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