Yoga: Ha Breath

Series Summary

The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit root “yuj” meaning "to bind" or "join." Whether joining the mind to the body, the human to the divine, or the individual to the infinite, Yoga is centrally the practice of union. The various styles of yoga share a common belief: positioning the body into a particular posture while focusing mind and breath leads to physical and spiritual well-being. The arts of positioning the body has been passed on for thousands of years, and encompass some of the oldest cultural traditions known to exist. To practice yoga, then, is also to join with the ancient sages, drawing human history up into oneself and connecting with the past, present and future. In this free video series on yoga, registered yoga instructor, Lynn Nicole Smith performs several yoga poses for relieving stress and increasing flexibility. Smith discusses a few breathing techniques, including: the ha breath, mindful breathing, the three-part breath and even the barrel breath. She then demonstrates a variety of yoga poses, such as: the warrior two pose, triangle pose, tree pose, straddle stretch, cat and dog pose, pigeon pose and the wind-relieving pose. Watch these videos and learn several rejuvenating yoga poses today.

Video Transcript

"Beginning our class by finding our center and we'll begin with ha breath as a way to release stress and tension from the body. Taking a deep breath in through the nose relaxing with the sound ha. Breathe it in, let the stress go, take a deep breath in through the nose, release it with ha. One more breath it in and let it go. Beautiful."