When most of us think of yoga, we see someone engaged in an asana.
And although the physical aspect of this ancient practice is one of the eight limbs of yoga, without the other limbs it is just a physical exercise.
The foundation upon which a yoga practice rests is the underlying flow of breath. Yogic breath is slow, steady and effortless but it is also deep. As it fills the lungs from the pit of the belly all the way into the upper chest it expands prana throughout the body. On the exhale the lungs are emptied like a glass of water from the top to the bottom releasing tensions and allowing the body to come into alignment.
This flow of breath accompanies the practice from beginning to end, sometimes in the foreground as a tool for opening up areas of tightness and restriction, and at others receding to the background of awareness as focus moves into sensations.
Here it becomes a tool of silent awareness, stilling the mind and allowing the body to connect with the higher self.
When the wisdom of the higher self takes over, breath guides energy into those areas in need of healing, where sensation is the strongest. There is no effort here. You become the non-doer, the witness, the observer. Healing just happens.
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