Inquiry: Honoring the body through breath
Make sure you have five to ten minutes to yourself in a quiet place. You can do this outdoors, sitting on your couch, lying on the yoga mat with knees bent and feet on the floor (partial recline), anywhere you are comfortable.
Settle in quietly and begin to notice your breathing. Softly close your eyes and breathe in and out through your nose. Begin to feel the rhythm of your in breath and out breath. Allow brief pauses between your breaths. Inhale, gently pause for a moment at the top without holding the breath, then exhale and pause for a moment before you take your next in breath. Take your time. Make your belly soft. Deep breathing can only occur when the diaphragm isn’t restricted. Make the belly soft to experience a full, yogic breath.
Place your hands on your lower belly, below your belly button and above your pubic bone. As you inhale, feel your abdomen gently and softly rise into your hands. As you exhale, gently pull your navel back toward your spine to completely exhale and notice that your belly recedes below your hands. Invite the breath in, along your spine, and down into your lower belly. Let the movement of your belly and your breath be soft, easy, and effortless – not forcing the breath, just allowing it in.
Slowly and quietly experience the sensation of your breathing. Notice: what does it feel like in your body? Make the breath smooth and easy. With a gentle approach, begin to slow down and lengthen your exhalation. Let your shoulders relax away from your ears as you exhale, allowing your body to relax a little more deeply as you release your breath.
Relax and enjoy this feeling for 5-10 minutes. You can place your hands over your heart center and bring in a feeling of gratitude for your body and your breath, for the time you took to stay present in this moment. Know that the rhythm of your breath has been happening every single day, 24 hours a day, every day and every night since the day you were born.
Listen to an audio file of this breathing exercise
Here’s a free audio file of this yogic breathing inquiry so you can practice at home!
Hi Amber,
My name is Alex , I am 16 years old and a disability called Cerebral Palsy, and I wanted to know if someone with a physical disability can do yoga? Is there any podcasts for adapted yoga for teen girls? I also suffer from depression,anxiety,PTSD. Will that affect my yoga experience?
Alex, Thank you for writing and checking out the site! I will be honest with you, I don’t know much about your disability so I’m not sure what types of yoga poses would be appropriate for your body. It would depend on what you can do, what limitations you have, etc. However, I found some great resources online about yoga for people with disabilities. Here’s a good link to check out (and there are lots of links at the bottom of this article) – http://www.disaboom.com/adaptive-fitness/yoga-resources-for-people-with-disabilities
I hope that helps – here are some podcasts you might like, too.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/yoga-in-my-school-blog-talk/id369773913
Alex, i have worked with lots of folks with Cp, and also have done yoga for myself for ten years, i am a plus size woman with some medical issues, but i have not done both. I am a social worker, but suffer from anxiety and depression, as does almost anyone with a chronic disease such as yours and mine. I admire your determination; yoga, tai chi, and karate have helped my anxiety and depression tremendously, both relaxation, body image, etc. I wish you luck. Thrilled to find body positive yoga website today !!!!
I have chronic low back pain, specifically at L3-S1 – primarily joint pain, with some bulging disc involvement as well. I want to improve my situation, but all I’ve been able to find is stuff like this: http://www.rodale.com/print/2202 which makes me say, “You’re kidding, right?” At 6’8″ and 285 lbs, most of those poses (ie, down-dog, forward bend, double-leg forward stretch, & dolphin, to name the scariest) don’t even look like they’re in the same universe as something I can do. And yet I desperately want to improve my fitness, flexibility, and general health. Where does someone like me — limited mobility at the aforementioned vertebra, XXL in every conceivable way, and hopelessly inflexible hamstrings to boot — get started?