The first Yoga breathing exercise we will explore lies at the heart of Kundalini Yoga practice, it is the legendary Breath of Fire Yoga Pranayama.
As mentioned above this breathing exercise is absolutely essential to the practice of Kundalini Yoga.
Benefits of Breath of Fire Kundalini Yoga Pranayama:
Primary:
- Quickly oxygenates your blood, thus helping the body detoxify itself and remove waste more effectively.
- Builds lung capacity and helps purify the respiratory system.
- Generates heat and increases your level of energy by activating the energy flows in your body.
- Syncronizes your entire system under one rhythm, thus promoting greater internal harmony and health.
Secondary:
- Balances and strengthens the Nervous System.
- Magnifies the benefits of exercises done in conjunction with this breath.
- When done forcefully, the pulsating of the diaphragm massages the internal organs, thus improving the digestive system.
Cautions for Practicing Breath of Fire Kundalini Yoga Pranayama:
- If you feel dizzy when practicing Breath of Fire, you should stop and substitute normal breathing. If you suffer from vertigo, you should use caution in practicing this breathing exercise.
- If you are menstruating you should not practice Breath of Fire, use Long Deep Breathing instead.
- You should be careful practicing Breath of Fire if you have high blood pressure, heart disease or suffer from stroke or epilepsy. Also, if you have acid or heat related gastric issues such as ulcers you should use caution.
How To Do Basic Breath of Fire Kundalini Yoga Pranayama:
- 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.
- Rest your hands in any comfortable position.
- Relax your stomach muscles.
- Now begin to breathe rapidly through the nose with equal emphasis on the inhalation and exhalation. It will be like very fast sniffing. Keep the breath shallow, just at the tip of the nose. Proceed at a comfortable pace and establish a steady rhythm. Pay no special attention to the chest or diaphragm other that staying relaxed. You will find the stomach pulses on its own in rhythm to the breath. That’s it, continue for 1 minute.
How To Do Intermediate Breath of Fire Kundalini Yoga Pranayama:
- Perform the breathing at a faster pace.
- Increase the duration of the exercise to 3 minutes
How To Do Advanced Breath of Fire Kundalini Yoga Pranayama:
- Build up the pace and power with which you do the breathing.
- Build up the time for this pranayama to 11 minutes.
Secret of Breath of Fire Kundalini Yoga Pranayama:
So the trick question is, “How many breaths are you taking when doing the breath of fire yoga pranayama”? This will be of some special concern to those who believe in the idea that each of us is born with a preset number of breaths and once we finish our quota – the fat lady sings. So for those folks it would be rather alarming to practice this exercise regularly, as they would be drastically reducing their life span – but, thankfully they need not worry. The beauty of this breathing exercise, aside from its lengthy list of benefits, is that it registers to the brain as only 1 breath. So put your worries aside and enjoy the practice of this pranayama which I have found to be one of the real gems of Kundalini Yoga.
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