Yoga Breathing for Meditation

Video Transcript

"The next part of meditation and preparing for your practice in centering yourself for your yoga practice is the Pranayama or practice of breathing. Prana actually translates to life and yama is the controller restraint. So together your life force your breath and the controller restraint of your breath. I like to think of more Pranayama is not controlling or restraining the breath, but more becoming more connected to the breath. It's about a way of thinking if we start to think of controlling the breath, tend to tight muscles and things that we don't need to be tightened. So what you want to do is settle in. Again, let the shoulders blades drop down in back, you can let your chin slightly bow forward. If you're not comfortable closing your eyes, you can find a point in front of you on the floor to gaze at, or again use a candle which I covered in the previous clip in candle gazing. Take a nice breath in and just let notice where your natural breath is. Notice what your body does naturally and that is your best teacher. So go behind close eyes or stare at the candle or point on the floor in front of you, and let the breath become full and let yourself become aware of the breath. Listen to the sound your breath makes and how it naturally goes in and out. And the more you concentrate on the breath, the more natural it feels and the less resistance you feel in your head and the easier it is to focus on that particular action. And that is Pranayama and how to center yourself for yoga."