Breath: in and out

The nature of the in-breath is very different from that of the out-breath. The in-breath should never be forced. The deepening of the ujjayi breath in yoga is achieved solely by focusing on gaining conscious control of the out-breath.

The Ancients knew that we can not force the breath in. It is as futile as trying to get a cat to do something she does not want to do. What we can do, however, is create the conditions for the in-breath to deepen on its own. Allowing the air to completely empty out of the torso creates an inviting space for a powerful in-breath to flow into.

The Sanskrit word for breath, prana, also means life-force. In our yoga practice we create a space for life-force to enter into us. That is what breath is all about.

Cliff, my long-time student who is an accomplished musician, recently put it like this:

In drumming we have a parallel. Rather than using a stick or the hand to strike a drum through a forceful downward intent, we prepare the stroke by lifting the stick or hand and then letting it drop in an aligned manner. The up should also happen on a subdivision of the tempo so that the down meets the drum at the proper time. If the up is off, the down will be too. It's truly all about the up.

Now those are words of insight!

Peace and Love

Abhay