“Inhale as you extend your arms up. Exhale as you lower your arms.”
“Inhale as you arch your back. Exhale as you fold forward.”
Many yoga practitioners are used to being instructed to connect breath and movement in a very specific way: inhaling to get into poses that expand the chest, arching the back, or lifting the body (think backbends like Cow Pose, and rising from Standing Forward Bend to Mountain Pose), and exhaling to get into poses that contract the abdomen or lower you toward the mat (such as in Cat Pose, forward folds, and Chaturanga).
Perhaps you know this breathing pattern so well that it has become second nature. Or maybe it feels counterintuitive and confusing and you wonder: is it okay to breathe a different way?
As is often the case with yoga, there is no one ‘right’ way to do anything. “While there are reasons why we often follow and strengthen the conventional breathing and movement combinations in yoga, these are not rules,” says Noah Mazeyoga instructor and teacher trainer. “There could be multiple reasons to switch it up and there is a lot to discover by doing so.”
Inhalations and exhalations affect the body and mind in real ways, so it makes sense to explore their connection to your practice.
Reasons behind traditional breath signals in yoga
One reason why yoga instructors encourage students to breathe is because it is a reminder to actually breathe to breathe, which many people (especially new students) need, says Sundar Balasubramanian, PhD, yoga therapist, contributor professor at MUSCand founder of Pranascience Institute.
Instructing students to inhale and exhale with certain movements encourages broader research into breathing habits, he says Marcia Ramoutara facilitator I am yoga. Students can extrapolate these signals and ask themselves, “How fast am I breathing? Am I holding my breath?” says Ramoutar.
There are also anatomical reasons for the traditional way breathing is cued, he says Timothy McCallMD, author of Yoga as medicine. Physically exhaling helps fold the body forward. “When you contract your abdominal muscles to force extra air out of the lungs as you exhale, this tends to flatten the lumbar spine,” says McCall. “The natural neck curve tends to diminish as well.”
The inhalation, on the other hand, helps create a backbend. “Each time you inhale, the curves in the lumbar spine and cervical spine tend to expand slightly. This makes back bending easier,” says McCall.
For Balasubramanian, it’s a matter of mechanics. “What happens when you take a tube and fold it? The tension causes the air to escape,” he says. “You straighten the tube and the air comes back.”
He explains that if the air has not left the lungs, it is more challenging to try to fold (or twist), almost as if you have a full belly, because inhalations expand the abdomen. And when you exhale to bend backward—which requires expansion of the ribcage—you don’t go as deep because the ribcage contracts.
That doesn’t mean the “rules” are hard and fast. In fact, there is a lot of wiggle room.
Disadvantages of typical breathing signals
Always coordinating inhalation and exhalation with certain movements has disadvantages. Students may come to judge their breathing as somehow inadequate, wrong, or risky if it deviates from the prescribed pattern. Magnus Ringberga physiotherapist focused on health and performance.
“It creates unhelpful beliefs that you need to breathe and move in a specific coordination, which can lead to fear of breathing or moving in the wrong direction,” says Ringberg.
Ramoutar, who is also a Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) Facilitator, recognizes that some students may feel uncomfortable when they are told to breathe a certain way – or when they ordered to do nothing at all. In the group classes she teaches, she tends to give students the autonomy to choose when to inhale and exhale and even whether or not to pay attention to their breathing.
Some students may not need breathing instruction. Richard Rosen, yoga teacher and author of The yoga of the breathpoints out that while novice students may breathe irregularly and benefit from reminders to breathe, experienced students may already be in tune with their breathing. “What you need to do doesn’t have to be imposed from outside; it is ‘felt’ from within,” says Rosen.
In reality, there is a range of breathing and movement combinations available to us. “We are able to inhale, exhale or hold our breath in any movement scenario, and it would be extremely problematic if we couldn’t do that,” says Ringberg.
How to change your breathing during yoga
One way to test whether conventional breathing signals work for you is to experiment with your usual breathing patterns. Changing breathing and movement patterns can also help freshen up your practice, says Maze. “It brings a new awareness of what is deeply familiar, similar to a date night in a long-term relationship,” he says.
When he exhales while moving from Standing Forward Bend to Mountain Pose, for example, he uses different sensations. “I’m becoming much more aware of pressing down through my legs, stabilizing and grounding as I lift… more of a rooting to get up.”
Different breathing patterns can feel unnatural or uncomfortable, says Balasubramanian. Yet a student can find his own balance between ease and challenge. “It’s okay to include some challenges, but not to the level that it adds discomfort,” he says.
As you practice, notice how the changes in your breathing change your physical experience of a pose, shifting your energy and perhaps opening your mind to new possibilities. If you experience an unpleasant feeling while varying your breathing, such as overheating or light-headedness, return to a breathing method that feels comfortable to you.
“Stay curious, be receptive, use your creativity. There are many ways to ride the waves of your breath,” says Maze.
1. Try the opposite pattern
Instead of exhaling in a forward fold or inhaling in a standing backbend, you can reverse the breathing. For example, inhaling during a backbend can also be a way to limit your range of motion so that you don’t overdo it while stretching. “For someone who tends to hyperextend the lumbar spine, exhaling can reduce that alignment by slightly flattening the lower back,” says McCall.
And while during yoga we often inhale to lift, if we’re lifting something heavy, like a child, exhaling to lift can be a better idea, according to Maze. He explains that a full exhalation stabilizes the pelvis and spine by recruiting more of our deep core muscles, which support the effort. He also points out that weightlifters often lift while exhaling.
Try it:
- Cat-cow: Inhale as you arch your back in Cow Pose and then exhale as you round your back in Cat Pose. After a few rounds, do the opposite. Inhale as you come into Cat Pose and exhale as you come into Cow. Repeat this several times.
- Upward salute to standing forward bend: Inhale as you reach your arms toward the ceiling in Upward Salute. Exhale as you fold forward into Standing Forward Bend, bending your knees as often as necessary. On your next inhale, rise into the upward salute. Then do the opposite. Exhale as you reach your arms toward the ceiling in Upward Salute, then inhale as you come into Standing Forward Bend.
2. Discover the pause between breaths
Between the inhalation and the exhalation there is a natural pause known as the it in yoga. Although short, the kumbhaka is considered a profound opportunity to quiet your mind and expand your consciousness.
“The kumbhaka is a very small foretaste of samadhi, in which there is no movement whatsoever, not even a movement of consciousness,” says Rosen. He explains that if the breaths are the movies – dramas, tragedies, comedies of life – the kumbhaka is the movie screen itself. “Under all the noise and fury, the screen remains the same.” To appreciate the underlying silence, he suggests we try to be silent during the kumbhaka.
“I don’t recommend holding the breath for more than a few moments during a range-of-motion exercise,” says Maze. In his practice, he sometimes extends the pause long enough to make a transition, or to deepen his experience of the pose.
Try it:
- Cat-cow: Inhale as you come into Cow Pose, pausing at the end of the inhale to allow for a full breath. As you exhale, move into Cat Pose. Pause for a second or two at the end of the exhale, when you run out of breath.
- Upward salute to standing forward bend: Inhale as you reach your arms toward the ceiling in Upward Salute, pausing at the end of the inhale. Then exhale as you fold forward, pausing briefly at the end of the exhale. (You can experiment with these micro-moments of silence during a Sun Salutation.)
3. Hold a pose for a full breathing cycle
Although the “one breath per pose” of a Sun Salutation is a traditional way of breathing, Balasubramanian says, he has learned that going slower can be more relaxing. You can practice a complete breathing cycle in any position.
Taking time for a long exhale also helps activate the vagus nerve, says Balasubramanian, which can help you relax even more.
Try it:
- Cat-cow: Inhale as you come into Cow Pose and then give yourself time to exhale completely. As you inhale, move into Cat Pose and exhale completely there as well. Continue moving between poses for as long as you like, taking a full breath cycle in each pose and making each exhalation generously long.
- Upward salute to standing forward bend: Inhale as you come into the Upward Salute and then exhale completely. Inhale as you fold forward and then exhale completely.
Breathe…Your way
Yoga instructors even do that need to instruct their students to breathe? It depends.
Ramoutar introduces the typical approach to breathing to students in teacher training courses, but they do not have to follow it. “Students have the opportunity to discover what works best for them,” she says.
Framing breath signals as invitations can help students feel less commanded and more curious. Ramoutar tells the students, “You may notice your breathing, or you may not. When your arms come up, you may notice you are breathing in, or you may not.” “Freedom of choice is actually priceless. It’s up to each person how they want to move and breathe – never a ‘you have to’,” she says.
Rosen is not a fan of the idea of breath control. “The breath has a mind of its own. It refuses to be ‘controlled,'” he says. He explains: ‘Observing without criticism or expectations is the best way to make friends and settle the situation Sakshinthe Witness, an absolutely indispensable ‘companion’ in a yoga practice.” Breathing gives us opportunity after opportunity to practice that.
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