In the Let It Go Yoga practice the breath is diaphragmatic, the deep abdominal breathing that singers use.  Diaphragmatic breathing is relaxing, it will instantly calm your body, quiet your mind,  and you don’t even have to be in yoga pose to practice!

You can try it right now…Take a full deep inhale and allow your abdominal muscles to soften so that you can fill your lungs completely.  Close you eyes and use your internal vision to watch your belly rise as you inhale and fall with your exhale. If you are new to this, place your hand over your navel and relax the stomach muscles allowing the belly to rise into your hand on the inhale and notice it fall on the exhale. If your chest is filling with breath, exhale completely and gently guide the next breath into your hand. With a little practice you will be breathing deeper than before.

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With every deep breath you are oxygenating  your blood and giving your body the message to live and regenerate. Deep breathing improves all the systems of the physical body and is the pathway to the infinite intelligence within all of us. Many of our students claim that when they practice deep mindful breaths with awareness and control, they feel more energy, less stress and have sometimes come away with viable solutions to problems that were worrisome before class.

Your breath can tell you a lot about your stress levels and your overall tension. As you become more aware of your breathing during your daily life, you may notice that when you are stressed you hold your breath or that the breath becomes more shallow. Sometimes you may even forget to breath! Noticing and changing these breathing habits can bring health benefits, such as reducing anxiety, helping you fall asleep, aiding in relaxation and more.

In my first yoga class the deep breathing was very new to me. I had never really thought much about it. I discovered that I took very shallow breaths into my chest and that I did not know how to take full deep breaths.  I was always told  to keep my abdominal muscles tight. Letting go of the stomach muscles was contrary to everything I had heard about being fit. I was so uncomfortable with the whole process and couldn’t get it at first but somehow knew that I needed to learn this. I needed to learn to relax and let go and that deep breathing was the key. I also learned that by allowing the full breath into the diaphragm I was actually strengthening my stomach muscles.

When I connect  with my diaphragmatic breathing I notice that it’s a wonderful tool to use when I need to calm down, feel more energized or get a new perspective on things.

Keep Breathing! You can use the diaphragmatic breath anytime…all the time. Whenever you are mindful of the breath and breathing deep breaths, you are practicing Let It Go Yoga!

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