The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice

by T.K.V. Desikachar

The rules for linking breath and movement are basically simple: when we contract the body we exhale and when we expand the body we inhale.

The technique for gaining a fuller breath consists of consciously expanding the chest and abdomen on inhalation and consciously contracting the abdomen on exhalation.

When practicing an āsana our attention should be directed toward the central point of the movement of breath. For instance, the main action when we breathe in moves from the upper chest to the navel; when we breathe out the action is mostly in the abdomen. Our attention is on these movements. Consciously following the breath is a form of meditation in which we try to become completely one with the movement. This is the same attention to action that we discussed earlier. Whoever masters this can direct his attention toward any sort of activity.

In order to produce a fine, smooth feeling when we breathe, we narrow the flow of breath in the throat, producing a gentle breathing sound. It is as if there were a valve in the throat that we close slightly in order to control the breath. The measure for this control is our sound, which becomes very gentle and ultimately should not require any effort or create any feeling of tension. After this technique is mastered, the sound is present during both inhalation and exhalation. This technique, known as ujjāyī, allows us to hear as well as feel the breath as it becomes deeper and longer.

Remember that yoga is a practice of observing yourself without judgment.

any one āsana there may be various counterposes possible, depending on where the tension is felt. Whenever we feel excessive tension in any area of the body after a posture, we must try to alleviate it with a counter-pose; that is, the simplest āsana that relieves the tension. The counterpose for a powerful forward bend is a gentle back bend. Conversely, a powerful back bend will be followed by a simple forward bend. Again, the reason for practicing counterposes is to return the body to its normal condition and to ensure that no tensions are carried on into the next posture or into our everyday business.