Powerful 4 Part Deep Breathing Exercise for Vitality - Free Online Yoga Pranayama Book - Ch 3
Powerful Deep Breathing Yoga Exercise
Deep Breathing Yoga Pranayama #3
Video of 4 Part Deep Breathing Exercise
(From Yoga Pranayama Video Series - Deep Breathing Exercise)
Background of 4 Part Deep Breathing Exercise:
This is the yoga breathing technique that my Kundalini Yoga teacher, Ravi Singh, almost always started our classes with. This is because despite being a simple breathing exercise, its ability to open up and get one’s energy going is astonishing.
In addition to awakening one’s energy, this particular yoga pranayama also has other significant benefits which I will detail below. Whether you are new to Yogic breathing techniques or an expert, this particular breath control exercise should be a permanent member in your goodie bag, which you can pull out anytime you need to fire up and vitalize your pranic body (energetic body).
Benefits of Yogic 4 Part Deep Breathing Exercise:
Primary:
- Rapidly oxygenates your blood, thus helping the body heal, detoxify and remove waste more effectively.
- Increases the amount of Prana (life-force) you are bringing into your system.
- Improves the elasticity of the lungs and increases respiratory capacity.
- Activates the energy flows in your body.
Cautions for Practicing Yogic 4 Part Deep Breathing Exercise:
- If you feel dizzy when practicing this breathing technique, you should stop and substitute normal breathing. If you suffer from vertigo, you should use caution in practicing this breathing exercise.
- You should be careful practicing this pranayama if you have high blood pressure, heart disease or suffer from stroke or epilepsy.
Step-by-step Instructions for Yogic 4 Part Deep Breathing Exercise:
- To practice this breathing exercise sit up in a comfortable position.
- Elongate your spine upwards, lengthen your neck and subtly bring your chin back and in like a soldier at attention. This will align the spine with the back of your head.
- Close your eyes.
- Bring the palms of your hands together at sternum level (like when you pray), but have them 2-4 inches away from your chest. Your elbows should be up such that your forearms are parallel to the ground.
- Press the palms of your hands together applying equal pressure to both sides. The pressure should be firm but not excessive.
- Relax your diaphragm and stomach muscles.
- Now inhale in 4 sniffs and exhale in 4 sniffs. So you are breaking up 1 inhalation into 4 equal parts and breaking up 1 exhalation into 4 equal parts. By the fourth sniff, during the inhalation, you should have completed filled your lungs with air and by the fourth sniff, during the exhalation, you should have completely expelled all the air. Completely inhaling and exhaling by the last sniff is a key part of this breathing technique. That’s it, continue for 1-5 minutes.
Secret of Yogic 4 Part Deep Breathing Exercise:
The real benefit of this yoga pranayama is hidden in benefit number three listed above (increases lung capacity). According to Yoga, your evolution can be triggered simply by the capacity of your respiratory system. When it reaches a critical threshold relative to your size, you evolve. By partitioning the breath, this particular breathing technique forces you to maximize the use of your lungs. Thus, helping them expand and absorb more prana (life-force) from the air.
Generally, in everyday life we don’t use our full lung capacity and over time this capacity diminishes. So take a bold step towards your spiritual growth and include the Yogic 4 Part Deep Breathing Exercise into your daily yoga practice. It is a great way to start and will go a long way in helping you finish.
This concludes the Yogic 4 Part Deep Breathing Exercise.
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on August 4th, 2007 at 3:46 am
[…] Increase your lung capacity with the Kundalini Yoga breathing technique given in the article: Powerful 4 Part Deep Breathing Exercise for Vitality. […]
on September 24th, 2007 at 3:45 am
[…] admin wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThis is the yoga breathing technique that my Kundalini Yoga teacher, Ravi Singh, almost always started our classes with. This is because despite being a simple breathing exercise, its ability to open up and get one’s energy going is … […]
on March 26th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
[…] You may wish to try some pranayama exercises as they have helped many students with their lung capacity and stamina. I would suggest 4 Part Breathing to start with, and then move onto more advanced pranayamas as your capacity develops. Here is a link to the 4 Part Deep Breathing exercise I mentioned above… 4 Part Deep Breathing Exercise Let me know if you need more info… […]
on April 3rd, 2008 at 1:14 am
hello,
What are the types of breathing techniques to heal lower back pain
on April 14th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
For lower back pain. I would try deep, slow anuloma viloma pranayama and kapalbhati.
Both should help with self-healing and opening up the pathways.
Best,
Anmol
on February 12th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
[…] 4 Part Deep Breathing Yoga Exercise […]
on March 10th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
Hey Anmol I have been doing this pranayam but i have been doing it in a 5 part breathing way using the sa ta na ma ahh mantra a syablle for each breath.5 is also the number of happiness I think its good this way.
on April 2nd, 2009 at 10:53 pm
[…] 4 Part Deep Breathing […]
on April 7th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
This technique is fine too. The key is the partitioning as that helps maximize lung capacity. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Best,
Anmol
on May 12th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
[…] Vajroli Tantric Yoga Technique for Sex Chakra […]
on July 22nd, 2009 at 1:03 am
hi anmol, can i do this for 20 minutes per day?
and thx for all the advice youve given me
on July 22nd, 2009 at 7:03 am
Happy to help :-).
20 minutes of day of this deep breathing exercise will be challenging, unless you break it up into segments. Normally we do it for a few minutes at the start of every class to get the energy going. So I would suggest to work up to 3-5 minutes and see how you feel first and then go from there.
If you do go higher I would be curious to know your experiences.
Best,
Anmol
on July 23rd, 2009 at 5:06 pm
okay, well ill tell you when i build up to that time
on July 31st, 2009 at 1:45 am
I like this 4 part breath…..it is good that it’s results are like the Breath Of Fire because, though i love Kriya Yoga, i find the Fire Breath to be disagreeable.
Thank you Anmol!
on August 9th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
[…] Powerful 4 Part Deep Breathing Exercise for Vitality - Free Online Yoga Pranayama Book - Ch 3 […]
on November 10th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
[…] 4 Part Deep Breathing […]
on December 20th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Pillates recommend to keep c-curve of the abdomen (uuddian bandh) and breath. this will Infuse more oxygen in inaccesible part of the lunts. Is it similar to golden Nuggets?
on January 4th, 2010 at 5:39 pm
Thank you for this website. It is very informative and well organized. I have been reading the articles and practicing the breathing. I would like to begin the free on-line yoga for beginners. Again, thank you.