Throat breathing: breathing method of flowing yoga

In traditional hatha classes, the teacher will lead abdominal breathing for the first 5-10 minutes, which is the most basic breathing method for yoga postures. However, in flow yoga classes, abdominal breathing should be followed by 2-5 minutes of laryngeal breathing. This is because, as a flow yoga practice that requires high physical strength and consumes a lot of energy, there are correspondingly breathing methods that can support the practitioner to complete a complete set of positions. Traditional abdominal breathing is not enough for this task, and laryngeal breathing is the best method.

The so-called laryngeal breathing means that when you tighten your throat while exhaling, the practitioner can hear your strong exhalation sound. Exhalation takes longer than abdominal breathing. When practicing flow yoga, if you experience physical exhaustion and shortness of breath, you can quickly increase the oxygen and energy in the body and relieve fatigue by increasing your throat breathing. Just as abdominal breathing is the basis of traditional hatha yoga, throat breathing is the basis of flow yoga and the source of physical strength and energy for flow yoga practitioners.

Throat breathing is also known as hero breathing. In fact, flow yoga, and its original sect, ashtanga yoga, require laryngeal breathing in their practice. For those who practice at a higher level, it is required to contract the throat, navel and perineum at the same time, that is, the contraction of the three locks. By contracting these "three locks", you can make the body tense and powerful, and at the same time generate a lot of energy to relieve physical fatigue.

However, it is not easy to control these three contractions at the same time and requires long-term practice. Therefore, for beginners, only the navel and throat are required to shrink, or even only the throat is required. After months of practice, I gradually learned to retract three locks at the same time when exhaling. Generally, after a year of continuous practice, you can contract on both exhaling and inhaling.

It is a long process for beginners to learn to adapt to laryngeal breathing from traditional abdominal breathing. In class, you can rarely hear the smooth and comfortable exhalation of students. When I am often so tired that I am sweating and my body is shaking, I can't remember to breathe through my throat. This requires teachers to be good at observing the students 'state and often remind students to "intensify their throat breathing."

Of course, since the method and degree of laryngeal breathing for beginners need to be improved, even if the laryngeal breathing method is used in practicing flow yoga, it may not immediately have the effect of gathering energy and relieving fatigue. This requires persistent practice and accumulation of time. (Editor in charge: Teng Yun)