Stimulating Breath Practices We Recommend

by Nina

Excited Dogs by Toyohara Chikanobu

Yoga breath practices (pranayama) allow you to self regulate. When you need soothing, you can use calming breath practices. On the other hand, sometimes you need uplifting or energizing. For those times—or if you tend to be lethargic in general—you can any of the stimulating breath practices presented here. In addition, two of the practices, inhalation lengthening and inhalation pausing, can improve your ability to breathe, increasing your “vital capacity” (a large vital capacity is associated with excellent lung function).

Caution: With all these breath practices, you are activating your stress response. So while these practices are good for times when you feel tired or sluggish, they are not recommended for people with anxiety, anxiety-based depression, or sleeping problems due to an overactive nervous system. And for anyone, if they make you feel agitated or even just unpleasant, just stop practicing. You can use a balancing practice instead (see Breath Practices for Balance) or stay with calming breath practices. Anyone with active asthma should avoid all these breath practices, though if you are on medication and stable, you could give them a try, stopping immediately if they cause any breathing problems. And since all these practices require breathing through your nose, if you’re congested due to illness or allergy, you should skip the practices until you can breathe normally. 
You can practice these in any comfortable seated position on the floor (see Learning to Sit on the Floor, Part 2) or on a chair, or in a reclined position where your chest is supported, such as Savasana or Reclined Cobbler’s pose with a bolster. 

Lengthening Your Inhalation

With this practice, you gradually extend your inhalation, aiming for a 2:1 ratio breath, with your inhalation twice as long as your exhalation. If you can’t comfortably practice a 2:1 ratio breath at this time, you will simply practice an inhalation that is at your comfortable maximum. For this breath, always practicing by breathing through your nose.

1. Practice simple breath awareness (see A Balm for the Soul: Practicing Simple Breath Awareness) for one or two minutes. Without changing your breath, count the natural length of your inhalations and exhalations in seconds to see which part of your breath is longer, your inhalation or exhalation. 

2. Now you’re going to lengthen your inhalation. If your inhalation is shorter than your exhalation, consciously make both parts of your breath last the same number of seconds, by making your inhalation as long as your exhalation. As an example, let’s say that your inhalation is naturally around two seconds while your exhalation is around three seconds. To practice an equal breath, you would make both your inhalation and exhalation three seconds long.

If your inhalation is already the same length as or longer than your exhalation, increase your inhalation by one second. For example, if your inhalations and exhalations are both around 2 seconds, you would slow your inhalation to 3 seconds.

3. If this is comfortable, continue for four rounds. If this is not comfortable, you could try increasing by half a second instead (approximately the length of a one syllable word). After four rounds, if you feel ready, you can proceed to the next step of increasing by another second or half second. If this seems like it’s going to be too much, simply continue with at the last comfortable maximum for four more cycles and then return to step 1.

4. Try adding another second or half second to your inhalation for four rounds of breath. If you’ve now reached a proportion of 2:1 (your inhalation is twice as long as your exhalation), this is your maximum. Practice your 2:1 breath for about a minute. 

If you have not yet reached a proportion of 2:1 and you are still comfortable, try lengthening your inhalation by another second or half second for four rounds. Proceed in this fashion until you either reach a 2:1 ratio or pass your comfortable maximum. If you reach your 2:1 ratio, practice for one minute. However, if you pass your comfortable maximum, step back to your comfortable maximum and have that be your practice. 

5. Now, start reversing the process by dropping one second or half second for four rounds at a time. For example, if you were practicing a four second inhalation, you’d return to three seconds for four rounds of breath. Continue in this way until you reach the length you started with in step one, practicing that for four rounds.

6. Return to your natural breath and practice simple breath awareness for one to two minutes. Make a note of your comfortable maximum for the day, and gradually work towards extending its length over time. 

Inhalation Pausing

At the end of each inhalation, your breath naturally pauses, very briefly, before your exhalation begins. Likewise, at the end of your exhalation, there’s a brief pause before your next inhalation begins. So every breath cycle naturally has four stages: inhalation, pause, exhalation, pause.

With inhalation pausing, you consciously lengthen the pause after your inhalation for a given amount of time, sometimes for a brief moment and other times for 1, 2, or 3 seconds (or more, in more advanced practices). This pausing should be a soft suspension of your breath, not a gripped “holding” as you might have done holding your breath under water.

Lengthening the pause at the end of the inhalation can enhance the stimulating effects of a longer inhalation. In addition, lengthening the pause may help strengthen your muscles of breathing. 

The instructions we’re providing are for adding inhalation pausing to an equal breath. However, you can combine inhalation pausing with extended inhalations (described above). For this breath, always practicing by breathing through your nose.

1. Start by practicing equal inhalations and exhalations, as described at Breath Practices for Balance. In our example, we’ll assume you’re practicing a two-second inhalation and a two-second exhalation. Continue for four rounds of breath.

2. On your next round of breath, gently lengthen the pause after your inhalation to one half second (or the length of a one syllable word). If this is comfortable, continue for four rounds. After four rounds, if you feel ready, you can proceed to the next step of increasing your pause to a second. If this seems like it’s going to be too much, simply continue with at comfortable maximum for four more cycles and then return to step 1.

3. Try lengthening the pause to one full second for four rounds of breath. If this is still comfortable, lengthen by another half-second, proceeding in this fashion until either your pauses are either equal to the length of your inhalations and exhalations or you have passed your comfortable maximum. For example, if you are breathing two-second inhalations and exhalations, stop when you have reached two-second pauses. But if your comfortable maximum is 1.5 seconds, step back to that timing for your practice.

4. Repeat for four more cycles. If at any time your breath becomes labored or uncomfortable in any way, or you start feeling agitated or panicky, stop and return to your natural breath.

5. Return to your natural breath and practice simple breath awareness for one to two minutes. Make a note of your comfortable maximum for pausing for the day, and gradually work towards extending its length over time. 

Skull Shining Breath (Kapalabhati Pranayama)

Traditionally, Skull Shining Breath is recommended for making you more present and alert, with a sharper mind. This is a stimulating breath practice that can wake you up if you’re feeling sleepy or energize you when you’re feeling sluggish. However, because it is a demanding practice, people who are very tired may find it exhausting. For you, we recommend practicing simple lengthening of your inhalation.

Technique. The basic breath technique consists a quick, forceful exhalation followed by a quiet, natural inhalation, typically short. For this breath, always practicing by breathing through your nose.

To make the quick, forceful exhalation, quickly contract your abdominal muscles towards your spine as you breathe out. (Imagine you have a little down feather stuck to the opening of your nose, and you are trying to forcefully blow it off your nose.) This forceful exhalation should be loud enough to hear clearly.

To take the natural inhalation, relax your belly, and passively allow your breath to fill your lungs, without attempting to slow it. This soft inhalation should be much quieter—if at all audible—than your exhalation. 

1. Practice simple breath awareness (see A Balm for the Soul: Practicing Simple Breath Awareness) for one or two minutes. 

2. About half way through a natural exhalation, begin your first quick, forceful exhalation as described above. Follow the exhalation immediately with your quiet, natural inhalation and then pause gently at the end of your inhalation. On your next exhalation, begin with the quick, forceful exhalation for your first full cycle of Skull Shining Breath.

3. If you’re new to the practice, acclimate to this style of breathing by starting with 12-16 breaths. Keep your pace relaxed and relatively comfortable, ensuring that you don’t feel short of breath, lightheaded, nauseated, or dizzy. Use the gentle pause at the end of inhalation to slow your pace if necessary. If you experience any problems, return to normal breathing for a few minutes. If your symptoms fully resolve and you are back to feeling normal, you could then try one more cycle of 12-16 breaths. If you rest and don’t feel completely back to normal, skip it today and try another day. 

4. On your last breath cycle, contract your abdominal muscles toward your spine and squeeze all the breath out of your lungs with a long exhalation instead of a short one. Then take a gentle full breath in followed by a natural, relaxed exhalation. 

5. Take a short break of about one minute and return to your natural breathing pattern. Then, if you feel up to it, repeat a second set of 12 to 16 breaths.

6. Eventually, over time, work up to two sets of 60 repetitions, with a short break of about 1 minute between the sets. As you get more accustomed to the practice, you can also speed up your breath quite a bit by shortening or eliminating the pauses, practicing up to 2 cycles per second. 

7. When you have completed two cycles, return to your natural breath and practice simple breath awareness for one to two minutes. Notice whether you feel more alert, mentally clear, and/or enlivened.

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