FULL YOGIC BREATH

I attended a workshop last night, we worked closely on forward bending with the odd back bending to counter pose. Our peak posture was Tortoise Pose (similar to the image below but we had our knees bent.) I have to say i have never attempted this posture before and loved it!

Image of B.K.S. Iyengar (amazing)

Through out the work shop she read us a story about the tortoise and the Ocean of Milk. The story can be found on the link provided http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_of_milk

I have to admit i did drift towards my breath instead of listening at times. We all have different learning styles and when you know which you are it helps to understand why you do certain things. I am not an auditory learner hence my drifting to my breath.

We did some lovely partner work that was great bonding for me and my friend who i went with. She is such a lovely person with a huge heart of gold!

At the end of the session the instructor gave us her reason for loving the tortoise, that has stuck in my head more than anything else. She told us that the tortoise can live to the vast age of 188 years. And in one minute it takes ONLY three breaths! This is a true secret of life, the breath. What a wonderful way to inspire students and to make you re-affirm your joy for the breath we breathe.We go about our daily lives forgetting the importance of the breath.

I have attached my latest video on basic breathing. It goes through the yogic breath. Please have a go, feel your breath, breath in vital energy, breath oxygen into your body to heal and nourish and help you function better!

You may find that you are not able to breath fully into these three lobs, If you continue to do your yoga asanas they will help the body to clean of toxins and over time the breath will become much more free. 

"When the breath wanders the mind also is unsteady.  But when the breath is calmed the mind too will be still, and the yogi achieves long life.  Therefore, one should learn to control the breath. " ~Svatmarama, Hatha Yoga Pradipika