Class staying together in breathing

Hi edgehH20!

Sometimes it is all one can do to get the energy together to do Kapalbhati Breathing effectively.

This may sound unusual for me to say, but perhaps you have contextually marked the end of the class with the breathing exercise instead of AFTER the breathing exercise when you finally lay down in Savasana. Just as a performer maintains a performance ‘state’ when they are on stage, as a yogi your meditative state starts before class begins and finishes after completing all the poses.

In other words, your mind may be programmed to ‘look forward’ to this breathing exercise as the marker of the end of class – which would be premature.

There is another conversation about drinking water where several of us have discussed how many yogis look forward to their water break after Eagle pose. This is particularly the case in studios where it is called (very inappropriately in my opinion) “party time”.

One of our goals (which can be elusive to us, especially at the beginning of practice or when we are emotionally unresourced) is to be ‘equanimous’. This is a state where we just do what is required without imbuing the activity or reaction with any emotional attributes. We simply observe.

Is it at all possible that you have sometimes just been so relieved that you have got this far, almost excited that you have ‘made it’ that at this point you really just wanted to lie down? Gosh, in the past I know I have. 😉 I wonder if you can ‘put off’ being tired – ie maintain your yogic state for just 2 mins more?

Intention is everything. If it is simply that you have run out of puff at the end of class and you really can’t keep up, that is fine too. Some teachers run a pace for this exercise which doesn’t suit you. It may feel too fast or too slow. Do what you can. Keep up if you can. I find it very challenging sometimes to do it to someone else’s pace.

If you would like another focus for giving it all you’ve got (whatever that is on the day): this breathing exercise is a real physical cleanser. The ancient wisdom of the yogis used for 1000s of years has been adopted by physiotherapists the world over to help people rehabilitate post-operatively because of the way the lymphatic and respiratory systems are activated as well as toning the abdominal and core muscles.

So there you have it… I hope that has given you a little more depth to how you can perhaps modify your practice approach to benefit from your whole class and not just any particular pose.

From a teacher’s standpoint: over the years I have reduced the clapping volume. When the students can hear themselves or even hear others over the beat then I have found that they can work out how to do it more effectively. They can check into the rhythm of the whole class rather than just hearing the loud clap. This makes it easier for everyone to ‘keep up’.

Funny, I was initially going to answer this in an entirely different way. I hope something in here resonated for you.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂