Posture of the Month - Standing Deep Breathing

Key Points for Your Practice:

-Inhale by the nose and exhale by mouth, but all the time controlling the breath with the throat.
-Fill the lungs to their maximum capacity-up to six times more oxygen than a regular breath.
-On the exhale, exhale all the air all the way out.
-All ten fingers interlocked all the way under the chin and touching with the chin the whole time.
-Elbows up as high as possible, opening up the rib cage to maximize the inhale.
-Suck your stomach, rib cage visible in the mirror.
-Weight in the heels, hips tight, spine straight, don’t let the chest collapse!

Strengthens: Shoulders & deltoids.

Stretches: Intercostal muscles, shoulder joints, scapula, & ocular nerve.

Stimulates: Lungs, nervous system, & circulatory system.

Benefits: Increases lung capacity and efficiency; opens the shoulders; & wakes up the body for class.

What is happening in the breathing exercise: This breathing exercise wakes up the body and mind for class. On each inhale you can fill your lungs with up to six times more oxygen than a regular breath, energizing the body with fresh oxygen. With each exhale you detoxify the lungs, releasing cellular and metabolic waste from the respiratory system. Tilting the head back helps to open the upper spine to prepare the neck for backward bending.