Dr. Ela Manga is an integrative doctor and practitioner of breathing work and co-founder of Breathwork Africa. Ela strives to share breathing on the African continent and further away. Her integrated and conscious approach to Wellness, in addition to her unique focus on breath work, has been a catalyst for healing and change in many communities and sectors of business to education.
Here she shares five postures for practicing breathing work …
Sitting in the floor in prayer on floor hands
The crossed position naturally encourages an upright spine when they are done well. This vertical alignment opens the chest cavity and prevents the collapse that occurs during the lunk, which gives the lungs more room to fully expand. The prayer hand position further strengthens this by withdrawing the shoulders and opening the chest.
Sitting in Hero’s pose on the floor with one hand on the stomach and the other in the heart
The hand placement makes a direct feedback system. Your belly hand in the hand of apertatic movement while your heart follows the hand of the hand. This tactile consciousness helps you to distinguish between shallow breathing of the breast and deeper belly breathing, which of course leads you to more complete breath cycles. With your hand on the stomach, you can feel whether your aperture is actively fascinating. Good aperture breathing must ensure that the abdomen rises gently when inhalation and exhalation falls, while the breast remains relatively stable. The hand feedback helps to train this pattern if you have developed shallow breathing habits.
Sitting in the wooden pose does alternative nasal breathing
Alternative nasal breathing is specifically aimed at the autonomic nervous system by alternating stimulation between the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches. The right nostril is associated with sympathetic activation (alertness), while links connects to parasympathetic dominance (relaxation). This alternating pattern helps to balance these systems, leading to more regulated, efficient breathing patterns. The technology requires persistent attention to coordinate fingering positioning, nasal hole circuit and breaths. This concentrated focus slows down and naturally deepens breathing while training precise breathing control. Hero’s Pose offers the stable basis that is needed for this level of coordination without physical distraction.
Sitting legs with buzzing bees breath
The buzzing vibrations immediately stimulates the Vagus nerve, which runs through the throat area. This activation leads to a strong parasympathetic response, naturally slows the heartbeat and promotes deeper, more rhythmic breathing patterns. The Vagus nerve is the key to the connection of the mind-body that regulates optimum breathing. The crossed gang position in combination with internal vibrations creates an increased proprioceeptive consciousness. With the stable sitting position you can fully concentrate on breathing technology, while the vibrations offer both physiological benefits and a focal point for sustainable practice.
Standing position for breath and voice
When you are upright to speak, your body naturally involves aperture breathing instead of shallow breathing of the breast. The stable base created by your feet can move the aperture down freely in the event of inhalation, which requires the deep breathing reservoir that is necessary to support persistent speech. You can feel how slow or poor posture immediately endangers this breathing. This posture essentially changes your entire body into a wind instrument, which shows how optimal breathing forms the basis for effective speech.
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