And B-r-e-a-t-h

A yoga teacher of mine brought up a great point the other day in class, he asked- What is the difference between circus de soleil and yoga? ( The tightropes?) No, the answer is breathing.  I'm not talking about the shallow, quick, unconscious breathing we do on a daily basis, but more about the meaningful deep breathing that we are capable of. Pranayama is a sanskrit word that that literally means the control of life or energy with the breath. Through different breathing techniques we are able to subtly change energies in the body to better our health.  The power of breathing can be transformative.  Deep conscious breathing allows you to relax, it tells your central nervous system to relax, which in turn affects your physical and mental awareness. During yoga classes you constantly hear, "make sure to breath, bring your awareness to your breath, or the occasional, I don't hear anyone breathing".   Sometimes its easy to overlook just how important it is.  The power of deep conscious breathing allows you to energize and heat your body from the inside.  It calms the mind and creates a sense of awareness with your body you might not have had before.  Using your breath throughout an asana practice allows you to move through the poses with more ease, as well as helps you to move deeper into a pose.  If you're ever in a pose where your breathing is compromised- you've gone too far. The same thing goes for off the mat, in situations that overwhelm you or cause anxiety, taking a mental break to focus on your breathing can have a tremendous effect. This is most definitely not the first time this has been said, but if you have ever tried it, you realize, wow this really does work.  There is a saying in yoga; "when you can control your breath, you can control everything."
It's not always easy to calm and clear the mind so here are a few tips that I find helpful.

• Focus on the cool air at the tip of your nose as you inhale and the heated breath as you exhale. Follow the breath from the tip of your nose, to your lungs to other areas of your body.  
• Use the breath to focus on areas that you hold a lot of tension in, and send the breath there.
• If quieting the mind is still a challenge (which I find from time to time), bring a word to the breath such as "let" on the inhale, "go" on the exhale. One of my favorite yoga teacher taught that and I find it very helpful to set a busy mind at ease. 

Namaste :-)

Hiking in Utah- Moab

The great Paramahansa Yogananda compared breathing and restless thoughts to storms. "We can't find serenity — that no stress state — until we calm those storms through deep breathing and meditation."