Complete Breath for grieving.

When we are facing loss, or experiencing grief, our body and our breath are the two places we rarely inhabit. We could be dwelling on past memories, or be anxious about the future. We could be filling our days with ‘busy-ness’ because being busy means less time to be sad, or to grieve.

The following pranayama (yogic breath) practice allows us to inhabit both the breath and the body at the same time, or either one – whichever has more of our focus. When we are present in our body, that helps us have awareness on any tension or gripping that holds our physicality.

When we are present to our breath, we can discern whether we experience a smooth cycle of breath (which in turn affects our body, which in turn affects our mind and emotions), or whether our breath is short or hitching (common to those experiencing loss).

In addition, most forms of pranayama – including this one – helps to calm the mind and provide our lungs (and body) with the oxygen we need.

The breath in three parts.

This form of pranayama is called Mahat yoga pranayama, which means “the great breath”, but its English names are either ‘Complete Breath’ or ‘Three-Part Breath’. Three-part breath is a good way to describe this breath technique, as our mind is occupied with three separate (and yet whole) parts of our torso as we breath – especially during the inhalations.

Just a short note on the three body parts we’ll be looking at:

• the stomach (or rather, the core muscles) are used to expel air. Contraction of our abs (and we’re not talking about ‘crunches’ only) forces what’s in our abdomen upwards, decreasing the space in our chest, which causes our lungs to contract and exhale.
• The ribs play a critical role when we breathe, by causing our lungs to expand (through the shortening of the intercostal muscles) when we inhale. The ribs also handles the pressure across the chest wall.
• The chest houses our lungs and the lungs are the centrepiece of our respiratory system. The chest also is the space of our anahata chakra (heart chakra) whose element is air.

This breath practice can be performed seated (see here for seated yoga asana for meditation and pranayama), or reclining in savasana (corpse pose). To begin with, I would suggest savasana so that you can experience the breadth and depth of the breath in the body.

Follow the practice below, or listen to the guided audio at the end of the post.

The practice.

1. Lie down on a firm surface (yoga mat on floor is ideal) in a comfortable position. Place your feet apart (perhaps the mats edges are a good gauge) with your legs straight. If having your legs straight is uncomfortable, then place a bolster or rolled up towel / blanker under your knees. Have your arms away from your body (about 35° away from the body) with the palms facing upwards. This is Savasana (Corpse Pose).
2. Once the body has settled, bring awareness to your breath, the quality of the breath – depth, length, smoothness etc. avoiding any ‘whys’ or ‘how comes’ that may pop in your mind.
3. After a few breaths, watch how your belly engages with the breath. Then how your ribs engage with the breath. Then finally how your chest engages with your breath.
4. When you’re ready, place the fingers of both hands on the outer edges of your belly (the circumference around navel is a good gauge). As you inhale, allow the in-breath to expand the belly out. As you exhale, allow the belly to contract completely. Take about five breaths here.
5. Next, place the fingers of both hands on the rib cage. As you inhale, first allow the in-breath to expand the belly out, then the ribs. As you exhale, allow the belly to contract, then ribs. Take about five breaths here.
6. Next, place the fingers of both hands on the rib cage. As you inhale, first allow the in-breath to expand the belly out, then the ribs. As you exhale, allow the belly to contract, then ribs. Take about five breaths here.
7. Finally, place the fingers of both hands on the upper rib cage (about below the collar bone). As you inhale, first allow the in-breath to expand the belly out, then the ribs and finally the chest area where your hands are. As you exhale, allow the belly to contract, then ribs, then finally the chest area. Take about five breaths here.
8. Finally, remove your hands and allow the breath process to continue working in this rhythm: inhales beginning in the belly, then the ribs, then the chest; exhales, allowing the belly, then the ribs, then the chest, to contract,
9. This is Mahat Yoga Pranayama. You may remain here for three minutes to begin with, and perhaps move up to five minutes.

Benefits:

The main benefit of this yogic breath practice is to be grounded – as mentioned above, our tendency while we grieve or face our loss is to remain in the past or in the future.

Other benefits include:

• Helps to promotes healthy heart rate and blood pressure;
• Helps to increase awareness of the lungs and breath;
• Helps to eventually optimise lung capacity; and
• Draws our awareness to the first four chakras.

Let me know how this has helped you. Also, check out if I have Yoga For Grief classes scheduled here.