Guest Author - Jen Blackert

Whether you are a beginner or an advance yoga practitioner, breathing seems to be an ongoing challenge. You don’t breathe incorrectly. You can’t “breathe incorrectly”. You don’t completely forget to breathe – that would be a disaster. Everyone fainting! No, you just sometimes forget to focus passionately on your breath.

When you bring regular attention to the breath you begin to clear your mind and find yourself in a deeper place of presence and peace. You start to tingle from your head to your toes. Presence offers you incredible insights and bliss.

So, how should you breathe during class? The simplest term for breathing during a yoga class is mindfully. Are you ready to start breathing more consciously and mindfully? Yes? Great. Here are some five steps to help you breathe mindfully and catch your breath before your next yoga class.

Please note: These steps are to be practiced at home first. Well, you can try this during class, but these steps were created to help you become more mindful during your daily life as well as during your yoga practice.

Step 1: Start paying attention to your breath. Even during the day - everyday. Just allow the body to breathe itself. Notice your chest, ribs, belly and lungs. Feel the breath moving inside the body. Feel the flow moving in and out of the body. Feel as if you could flow like the breath. Just explore.

Step 2: Begin to change you breath. Move the breath from the upper chest to the belly. Move your belly when you breathe. This is where the breath should be during a yoga class. When you find it is not there don’t judge yourself. Just notice and change.

Step 3: Now, make the inhalation and the exhalation the same length. You can explore a one-count breath in and out and then change the count to a two or three-count inhalation and exhalation.

Step 4: Next you can slightly hold your breath at the end of the inhalation and the end of the exhalation. This slight hold is when you count the breath. I have heard in called the "breath inside the breath."

Step 5: Hold the breath longer between the inhalation and exhalation. Count the seconds between each breath. Why? Holding the breath calms the nervous system and clears the mind.

You will find when you focus solely on your breath, you will begin to feel more conscious and presence in your body. Please use this as a reminder to consciously breathe so you can become more consciously present and peaceful during yoga class as well as during life.