Yoga Breathing Exercises - Pranayama Yoga

abdominal breath, abdominal breathing, belly breath, belly breathing

Abdominal Breath

Sanskrit Name: Adham Pranayama
Time: 3 mins 31 secs

The abdominal breath moves the diaphragm down and up as you inhale and exhale, pushing the abdominal organs forward, and then back inward. The air is encouraged into the lower lobes of the lungs and the organs in the lower torso are massaged, stimulated and relaxed.
nadhi sodhana, alternate nostril breathing, yoga breathing technique

Alternate Nostril Breath

Sanskrit Name: Nadhi Sodhana
Time: 3 mins 43 secs

This is a gentle, relaxing breathing technique that soothes the nervous system, calms the mind and balances the right and left - hot and cold, sympathetic and parasympathetic, activating and relaxing - aspects of our being.

Complete 3-Part Breath

Sanskrit Name: Mahat Yoga Pranayama
Time: 3 mins 10 secs

In putting the belly breath, the mid chest breath and the upper chest breath together, we have the complete deep breath, also known as the 3-part breath. It is essential to practice and expand your ability to breath deeply since it forms the foundation of most yogic breathing techniques.
chest breath, chest breathing, deep breathing, breath deeper

Mid-chest Breath

Sanskrit Name: Madhyam Pranayama
Time: 2 mins 3 secs

This breath is focused on the rib cage, and expanding the rib cage out to the sides, the front and the back. This movement channels air into the middle lobes of the lungs. The exhalation requires a squeezing effort to completely expel all of the air in the lungs.
kapalabhati, kapalabhati pranayama, yoga breathing technique

Skull Cleanser Part I

Sanskrit Name: Kapalabhati
Time: 3 mins 55 secs

Kapalabhati is an energizing, rejuvenating, total-body wake-up! It is deemed to be more of a cleansing technique than a breathing technique, cleansing the nasal passage and the lungs. It is often used to prepare for the practice of pranayama.
kapalabhati pranayama, yoga breathing technique, yoga breathing

Skull Cleanser Part II

Sanskrit Name: Kapalabhati
Time: 4 mins 15 secs

Part II takes you through a couple rounds of Kapalabhati and introduces a visualization, and the reason why it is called the Skull Cleanser.
rhythmic breathing, deep breathing, deep breath, yoga breath, yoga breathing

The Rhythmic Breath

Sanskrit Name: Savitri Pranayama
Time: 2 mins 57 secs

Using the complete, 3-part breath, this is a gentle rhythmic breathing technique that has a repeating cycle of inhalation, exhalation and retentions. It is very good for relaxing the entire nervous system, letting go of the emotions and calming the mind.
upper chest breathing, breathing into upper lungs

Upper-chest Breath

Sanskrit Name:
Time: 1 mins 49 secs

The air is drawn into the upper-most lobes of the lungs in this breathing technique. It can help to loosen the upper chest area, and brings awareness to tension in the shoulders, chest and neck.