I could hug the whole wide world sometimes. Other times I would love to withdraw into a shell and shut off the whole world. Sometimes I want to cry without a reason for it. Sometimes I just giggle and can’t stop. Does this sound familiar to you?
My feelings shift with every situation, with the people around me and with my experiences. It doesn’t matter if I’m angry or at peace with myself. What matters is, I get more and more aware of my feelings as I observe them. I know what I need in each situation and how I want to react to my feelings. Do I want to dive into my emotions or do I want to hide them? Do I feel the need to shout at someone or can I take a deep breath and reply when I feel more relaxed again? I will tell you how I cope with my feelings.
It’s easy, really. Breathing deeply and consciously is the key. Breath is an integral part of yoga. In Sanskrit, the technique of breathing is called pranayama. It’s controlled breath or the extension of breath. If you concentrate on your breath, observe your breath, you can control it better. With special techniques, you can lengthen your breath. Controlling and lengthening your breath helps to calm your nervous system. If you are less excited and less sad, don’t be nervous. I want you to be able to feel more comfortable and well. Prana means life force in English. It’s something energetic, something that should make us feel good. Are you ready to give it a try?
Pranayma Exercise 1
- Sit or lie down.
- Close your eyes and listen to your own breath and how it flows through your body.
- Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose.
- Become aware how it travels from the nose through your throat over your chest into your stomach. Feel the belly button move up and down. Then become aware of how the used air is travelling its way up and back until it goes out through your nose.
- Sustain this awareness to your breath for 3-5 minutes.
How do you feel now? Do you think breathing would help you in a stressful situation? Or when you are all excited and don’t know where to go with all the energy? If you need some more, try this:
Pranayama Exercise 2
- Wherever you are, keep doing what you do.
- Become aware of your breath. Count silently how long it takes to breathe in and out. Make the counts the same. So for example, you have 5 counts in and 5 counts out. Or whatever number of counts your breath is.
- Observe how you perceive the world differently when you breathe. Observe your life force.
Maybe you will surprise someone by reacting differently than you used to just because you breathe consciously. You might even approach a negative situation with a calm voice and a big smile thanks to pranayama.
Corinne shares her passion for yoga with young people in community centres, schools and studios in Zurich and spent a winter in Greece to give yoga classes to refugee children and adolescents. Corinne has several years of experience working with children and adolescents. She loves to provide space for peaceful growth – to bring and come together for a more happy and healthy world.
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