Mindful Mondays
Welcome to this weeks Mindful Monday Blog Post!
In todays’ society we often practice mindfulness when we are in a studio, on the mat, or practicing yoga. This weeks Mindful Monday Blog is here to help you take your mindfulness techniques you learn in class off the mat and show you how to slowly infuse them into your everyday life. Our last blog we talked about taking a moment to notice the breath at least once a day if only for a second. This mindless task can be made mindful easily without taking extra time in your day. This week we are going to look at breathing a little more in depth. So, let’s learn a bit about the parts of breath, where the breath takes place in the body, the effects of breathing into different regions in the body on the nervous system, and lastly how to breath mindfully.
To begin let’s explore the different parts of the breath:
(1) inhale
(2)antaranga Kumbhaka (retention, the moment when you hold the breath after the inhale before exhaling.)
(3)exhale
(4)bahirangha kumbhaka (exhalation retention, the moment when you hold the breath after the exhale before inhaling.)
If you pay attention to your breathing, you will begin to notice that there is more to breathing than just breathing in and out. Many of us don’t notice the small holds in between the inhale and exhale. Noticing the breath in, the kumbhaka, the breath out, the kumbhaka, is being mindful of your breathing. Next time you stop and notice your breathing to take a mindful moment bring your awareness to the 4 parts of the breath. Next week we will be learning a little bit about the different areas in the body where the breath resides. See you there!
Namaste!
Amber Green
Owner/Founder
Querencia
