YOGA TIP: The One-Minute Breath

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The One-Minute breath: 20-20-20 - Expand your Consciousness.

 

The normal respiratory rate for a human adult is between 16 - 20 breath cycles per minute. However, by lengthening and deepening our breath, we can reduce our respiratory rate in order to improve the quality and depth of our breathing. By controlling our breath rate (and thus our minds), we can easily reduce our respiratory rate to 3 - 5 breath cycles per minute, or less.

 

The breathing cycle has three components: inhale, suspend the breath, and exhale. For instance, if you take 10 seconds to inhale, suspend your breath for 10 seconds, and exhale for 10 seconds, that gives you a respiratory rate of 2 breath cycles for minute. Breathing this way has a powerful effect on the brain, as it settles the mind and induces a state of deep meditation.

 

If you inhale in 20 seconds, suspend the breath for 20 seconds and exhale in 20 seconds, you breathe at a rate of 1 breath cycle per minute. This practice is challenging for beginner and novice yogis, but once achieved, induces a high level of awareness and deeper meditation. Try this breath sitting in Easy pose (legs crossed on the floor) with your spine erect, closing the eyes. You may want to try breathing at 4 breaths per minute (5-5-5), then 2 breath cycles per minute (10-10-10) at first, and once you are able to breathe at those rates without becoming tense or gasping for air, then you can try the one-minute breath (20-20-20).

 

Our breath is a powerful tool we can use in order to relax our minds and bodies, manage and control our levels of stress and increase our energy and awareness. The one-minute breath provides us with a deep and powerful meditative experience.

 

Sat Nam, Sabine.

-- ¡Bendiciones! Sabine * Guru Sadhana KaurThe Spiritus Group spiritus-group/

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