Yoga for Emotional Balance

Expanding Life Force Breath

Lie down on 1 or 2 folded blankets, depending on what your back finds most comfortable. Add another blanket so that your head is slightly higher than your shoulders. Completely relax your shoulders, arms, hips, and legs. Close your eyes. Breathing through your nose, deepen your inhale and exhale and move into deep, mindful breathing for five to six rounds.

At the top of an inhalation, gently and slightly constrict the back of your throat so that your exhale becomes resonant and full, with a slightly audible sound like an inner sigh. Inhale in the same manner, hearing an audible vibration that comes from the throat area. This is called ujjayi in Sanskrit, "Upward expanding life force" breath. Practice rounds of two or three ujjayi breaths, with a pause of a few normal breaths between rounds. Bring even rhythm and balance to your ujjayi breaths.

Inner Work: Let Your Breath Heal You
Balancing your inhale and exhale can bring you to an even place between the action of inhale and the passivity of exhale; from a "fight or flight response" into a "relaxation response"; between lightness and darkness. You can also adjust the length of your inhale or exhale to suit your emotional needs.

If your mind is overactive, anxious, or unable to focus, calm it down by elongating your ujjayi exhalation. If you are feeling sadness, lethargy, or are unable to move, increase the length of your ujjayi inhalation. If overwhelming emotions stop you from getting out of bed in the morning, try practicing 10 - 15 minutes of ujjayi lying in bed.