breathing

[Guest guest]

Hello all,<br><br>Been reading posts, but haven't

had much to say. I have a question, though, about

breathing. In your posting about books and videos, you

mentioned that Sarah suggests aiming for 5 seconds on the

inhale and 15 seconds on the exhale. I remember the

teacher in my class suggesting that I try to have my

inhales match my exhales (in duration). That may have

been for the sitting practice at the end, though. I

can't remember. Where are folks at, with that? Also, I

find that when I'm stretching backward, like before

and after each of the Prasarita Padottanasanas A

through D, I cannot inhale. I generally inhale at the

beginning and stretch back while holding my breath. I

figure this is due to tightness in my chest and

shoulders, but I wonder if I should be holding my breath? At

the same time, I sense that pushing that stretch a

little (even though I can't breathe in while doing so)

is good. Any thoughts on that? Generally, when I'm

good and hot, I have at least one, deep, satisfying

"pop" deep in my sternum area, and I'm hoping that's a

sign of some shifting and opening up. Anyway, I'd

appreciate any thoughts, advice or experiences on the matter

that any of you would like to share.

[Guest guest]

Well I had to go back and check my post for a

mistype but you must have misread it. That's 5 seconds

for the inhale and 5 seconds for the exhale (Sarah

Powers' recommendation on the Maui video). Yes, in ujayi

breathing the inhalations and exhalations should be of the

same duration. Also, there is no pausing between them,

the breath is never held. I think most Ashtanga

teachers would say that if you are strectching so far that

you can't breath then you are going too far. The goal

is be able to flow through the whole series without

missing a breath. And each breath should be even. Of

course for most people this may take a long time to

achieve. In Ashtanga yoga, there is an emphasis is on

maintaining this breathing. In a led class situation, it is

probably better to just go as far as you can into a

posture and still maintain the breathing. In your own

practice outside of classes, a way to work on postures

that are dificult is just to hold them for more

breaths (but ideally still maintaining steady ujayi

breathing).

[Guest guest]

As far as:<br>"At the same time, I sense that

pushing that stretch a little (even though I can't

breathe in while doing so) is good. Any thoughts on that?

Generally, when I'm good and hot, I have at least one, deep,

satisfying "pop" deep in my sternum area, and I'm hoping

that's a sign of some shifting and opening

up."<br><br>I'm all for trying whatever you sense is good. I get

pretty experimental on my own. I have tons of deep

chronic tension. I'm sure there are "bad" pops, cracks,

etc but some peoples' bodies will be needing to go

through a lot of popping, cracking and tearing

eventually. Once muscular tension has become chronic, things

stick together, like with glue. And this glue may have

to be broken to get things sliding around again.

Muscles, bones, ligaments, tendons, joint capsules, all

can get stuck in place and sometimes have to be

"cracked loose".

[Guest guest]

Sorry I misread your message. I am glad it got me

to post, though. I suspected that I shouldn't be

holding my breath at all, even if it is for just a second

before exhaling. <br><br>MP---My teacher has told me

that BBB's book is fine for where I'm at---which is

just learning the seated postures---and has almost

discouraged me from buying another. He has stated that the

postures are identical to Yoga Mala or Swenson's book. So

at this point, I have no comparison, but...are there

no points in the standing postures where one looks

up and back and squeezes the shoulder blades

together while inhaling (or in my case attempting to

inhale)? Is this a Birch flourish?<br><br>Thanks to all

for the feedback. I don't have much of a chance to

speak to my teacher during class, and I'm not far

enough along to ask after class because I'm always the

first to finish. So not much of a chance to ask

questions.