The Right Breathing Method based on Yoga to be Physically and Emotionally Healthy

One of My Favorite Yoga Pose:)

Just a quick briefing, I am a Certified Yoga Instructor taking my certification in The Island of God, Bali. I want to share a simple story about how to breathe correctly. 😉

Sounds stupid? 🤔

Well, I want to start with a short story. There’s this time when I stumbled upon my friends’ conversation about how to calm stress, manage your emotions, get less angry, etc. Then, I said

Just Breathe

They laughed, then told, “Come on! Every human alive is breathing.” Then, I giggled a bit then said:

“Yes, every person is breathing, but most of them aren’t breathing in the right way.”

They’re still laughing, and ask how is the right way then? Here, I will share my story to breath properly according to what I’ve learned as a Yoga Instructor.

In Yoga, there is a breathing method called Dirgasvasam or “Baby Breathing.”

Shortly, that is the best method to breathe. I am not saying that the way people breathe now is wrong; it is just best if you could start breathing using this method.

Dirgasvasam is a breathing method when you inhale; you would focus on bringing the air to your stomach and fill your stomach as much as possible; consequently, your abdomen will be inflating. Reversibly, when you exhale, you will let out all the air from your stomach, and it will be deflating.

Why is it called Baby Breathing then?

Well, when you observed a newborn baby, They’re breathing by inflating their stomachs when inhale and deflate it during the inhale phase. Unfortunately, as we grow older, we frequently do it the opposite way.

So, is it just about that? Nope, of course.

One key point about this Dirgasvasam is to breathe gently and longly. This way, you will be able to inhale much more air than usual, and more oxygen distributed to your cell system. A good tip is to count it.

How?

When you inhale, inflate your stomach by counting it four counts (around 6 seconds) gently, not in a rush. Try to feel the air filling up your stomach. After that, when you exhale, count it again in 4 counts or longer. Why longer counts needed for exhaling? It will help you to breathe out the residue. Then repeat the flow to get used to it, and as time goes by, you will enjoy Dirgasvasam.

One more important thing, during the inhale and exhale process, if possible, practice to visualize a little light from the universe, enter your nose, and to go through your body together with the breath.

That little light is the visualization of energy that you absorb from the universe to your body.

Is it work?

Yes, I guarantee it, because I do it myself and it brings me a lot of improvement in myself. I quickly got a panic attacked, mood swings, and impatient, which led me to get angry fast. Thing is getting better when my mom took me to her Yoga class session when I was a second-grade junior high schooler. Well, she said that I have a lot of breathing problems during my toddler period, and based on her, Yoga will help a lot. Indeed it does.

Just like you, I was also didn’t used to it. Before I introduced myself to Yoga, I would breathe by inflating my chest and did it shortly, which means only a little amount of air fill my chest, resulting in a bit of amount of oxygen distributed to my cell. But, I practiced it a lot, and I fall in love with it.

Every day I am amazed by the fact that a simple thing like breathe properly could change a lot of things on me.

Summary

Well, shortly, this is how to do Dirgasvasam or Baby Breathing:

1. Inhale -> Inflate your stomach, filling it up with air in 4 counts (around 6 seconds) while visualizing a little light of energy enter your body within the airflow
2. Exhale -> Deflate your stomach, let out all the air within four counts (around 6 seconds) while visualizing those light discharged from your body through pores on your whole body
3. Don’t forget to relax and SMILE.

How to Start?

I know that implement this method every time you breathe is hard (or even impossible).

So, my tip is to try doing it for 5 minutes after you wake up and before you go to bed. Or every time you feel like you are getting emotionally unstable, stress, having a headache, and whenever you feel that life is suffocating.

JUST BREATHE, THAT’S ALL!

Last But Not Least :)

The air is available freely in our beloved universe. It gives a lot of health and emotional benefits that would help you manage yourself better.

Try it, and let me know what’s your opinion :)

P.s

I have a lot of other breathing tips, Feel free to give comments if you want to know more about many breathing methods in Yoga :) I will be happy to share it to you,

Cheers :)