Yoga Breaths to Relieve Headache

Video Transcript

"ELIZABETH ROSE: So this first thing is Dirga Pranayama which is just a three-part breath. It helps to align the spine and get you in a relaxed space. You can do this seated in an easy seated pose. If your knees come up in easy seated pose, you're going to want to sit on a block or a bolster, just raise the sits bones until the knees fall down below the waistline. Another way to do this is to lie on the back. I like to do it lying on the back because I can feel all parts of my back on the floor. I have my fuzzy faux sheepskin because I like it but you can use anything you like. When you lie on the back to practice Dirga Pranayama, you want to bend the knees and place the heels just a few inches away from the buttocks. Okay, here we go, this is the actual breath. When you inhale, you want to fill the belly with air and exhale. When you fill the belly with air and you exhale, you're gonna--also when you're lying on the floor, feel your back pressing into the floor. You want to almost think of it as breathing into the back of your body as well as the front of your body, so your belly button's going to move up as your belly expands and your back is also going to press down. Think of when you see a baby sleeping or a puppy and they let this fill with air when they breathe every time. So often we breath shallowly or we let our shoulders rise when we breathe, this breath is going to help the Prana, which means life force, flow more freely in the body. I'm just going to bring you into a more relaxed state. The first part of the breath is the belly. So you're going to inhale into the belly and then once you've got the belly going over several inhales and exhales, in and out through the nose, you're going to add the ribcage. So as you inhale, the belly expands and the ribcage expands as well. Can you see that happening sort of inhale belly and ribcage, exhale ribcage and belly. Now as you build this breath, the third part is the heart. You're going to inhale into the belly, expand through the ribcage, and then expand through the heart. And again you're going to feel on your back on the floor, your shoulder blades spreading apart, inhale belly, ribcage and heart. So it all is expanding and as you exhale slowly soften through the heart, the ribcage, and the belly. So repeat that breathe several times. You can do it as long as you like. I say at least 10 breaths, 20 if you're comfortable there. You can close your eyes just let everything sink into the floor and breath. "