If you’ve been around yoga for a while you’ve probably heard a lot of talk about breath and the importance of breathing in yoga. You may think to yourself, “I breathe all the time, what’s the big deal?” But are you aware of your breath all the time? Did you know that your breathing patterns change depending on your mood, environment, stress levels etc? Did you know you could use your own breath to calm, energize or heal the body?
Most of the popular forms of Yoga seek to reunite you with your breath, training you to use your breath as a form of meditation. When the focus is on matching a conscious breath with movement there is little room for your mind to stray.
This is all a part of Pranayama, a Sanskrit term meaning breath control. Prana literally translates to life force. A form of breath control commonly used in the hatha yoga practice is Ujjayi Pranayama (Oo-jay-ee Prah-na-ya-ma). To engage your Ujjayi breath simply begin to deepen your breath. Find long, deep inhales through the nose to the count of four. Match it with long, deep exhales through the nose, to the count of four. Constricting the muscles in the back of the throat as if you were fogging up a mirror. This will make your breath slightly audible and it should sound oceanic.
It’s important that you maintain this breath through the nose, as this will initiate your sympathetic nervous system, the “relaxation response.” When you breath through the mouth it will engage your parasympathetic nervous system, often identified with the fight-or-flight response, which is short for ‘Holy shit, Danger! Danger! Must panic and run away!’ or ‘No, must tense up and stay and fight!’
When you turn the fight-or-flight off and the relaxation response a dramatic effect happens to your body. The heartbeat slows, blood pressure decreases, circulation increases, the pH of the blood changes, and the body takes this opportunity to use the extra energy to self-heal. Herbert Benson, M.D. has a theory on the countering process of ‘the Relaxation Response’, which he explains thoroughly in his new book Relaxation Revolution. 
In this book Benson claims his research shows that breathing can even change the expression of genes. He says that by using your breath, you can alter the basic activity of your cells with your mind.
“It does away with the whole mind-body separation,” Benson says. “Here you can use the mind to change the body, and the genes we’re changing were the very genes acting in an opposite fashion when people are under stress.”
Breath control can be used to energize, relax, and heal the body. It's been scientifically proven to affect the immune system, the heart, digestion, the brain, and pain management. More importantly, you can use this breath control as a method to train your body’s reaction to a stressful situation. This is a time where you may be unaware that your breath has become shallow and your body is reacting with the fight-or-flight response. Next time you feel yourself start to heat up close your eyes, shut out the external world, and take 5 to 10 long Ujjayi breaths to calm yourself before you assess the situation again.
“Life is the period between one breath and the next; the person who only half breathes, only half lives. He who breathes correctly acquires control of the whole being.”
-Hatha Yoga Pradipika
by Swami Muktibodhananda
by Swami Muktibodhananda
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