Yoga and Breathing

While the breath is necessary to live, yet the remarkable fact is that lungs cannot
breathe. It would be awkward to note that the lungs are immobile. Embedded in the
chest, the lungs are connected by tubing to the air around the body, but the lungs have
no ability to force air through these tubes. They are guests at a banquet being served to
them by the muscles of respiration.
Accurately, we "breathe the lungs." Unlike other inner processes such as pumping
blood and moving food through the body, breathing results from semi-conscious and
habitual contractions of skeletal muscle that can be brought to conscious awareness.
This awareness is the foundation for all Pranayama practices. How we accomplish
breathing-our choice of the muscles we use to move the lungs and our ability to use
these muscles skillfully-makes all the difference.
Muscles Work Together
Muscles produce movement by contracting. From the blinking of an eye to a high
jump, our movements are the result of muscle contractions. Skeletal muscles work in
coordination with one another.
Process of Breathing
Because the lungs are not muscles, they should be stretched to create an inward flow of
air. The muscles that do this surround the lungs-top, sides, and bottom. The main
muscle of breathing, the diaphragm, forms both the floor of the chamber containing the
lungs and heart, and the ceiling for the abdominal organs. As the diaphragm contracts,
the central portion, called the central tendon, is pulled down. This expands the lungs.
The contraction of the diaphragm is purely an internal movement.
Lying in the corpse pose makes it quite easy to feel the effects of diaphragmatic muscle
contractions. When the diaphragm pulls the lungs downward, creating an inhalation, it
compresses the organs of the abdomen and presses them outward against the
abdominal wall. If there is little resistance from the muscles of this wall, the abdomen
rises. It falls when the compression of the diaphragm is relaxed.
Yogic manipulation
An acrobatic ability to manipulate breath is not the goal of yoga. Yet the different
forces involved in exhalation and inhalation do need to be brought to awareness and
coordinated. That's what this article has really been about. By identifying each of the
elements of breathing and allowing them to work without tension, you can develop an
ability to breathe effortlessly.
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During the practice of yoga postures, shift your awareness frequently to the flow of
breath. When you can hold a posture comfortably, let the breath become your primary
focus and explore the effect of the posture on respiratory muscles and on breath flow.
The deep force of prana uses the vehicle of the breath to sustain our lives. Breathing is
the act of moving air in and out of the lungs. It is quite natural to be able to guide the
muscles of respiration-to know how they feel, how they work most effectively, and
how respiratory tensions that create fatigue and nervous problems can be released.
When this is accomplished, the door to Pranayama practices and meditation is opened.