Breathe – breathing: best practices and tools in yoga

Yoga is a great way to relax, focus, “clear” the mind and at the same time keep the body in shape – isn’t it a miracle? Natalya Osmann, co-founder of the popular #FollowMeTo travel project and creator of the Ashram wellness space, talked about best practices and tools in yoga.

Breath

“Breath is the most accessible and most effective tool for rapid self-improvement due to its speed of achieving results and the absence of place, time and environment effects at the time of use. helping, coping with anxiety, and “clearing” the mind. Just a few cycles of conscious breathing literally have a significant impact at the level of neural connections and bring balance and mental clarity.

Oftentimes, beginners neglect the first acquaintance with the breathing possibilities and already face it as part of other practices, which can often lead to frustration: A well-organized system that helps both beginners and advanced learners cope with physical challenges. is not breathing. effort on the mat. The reverse order leads to a shifting of concepts: in any aspect of yoga, breathing is primary, but then physics is added, which helps to achieve depth of immersion but is not an end in itself.

sound healing

“Sound healing is a form of meditation to the sound of singing bowls. Its vibrations help focus on breathing and, as a result, relax the mind and body, helping one achieve a deeper immersion within oneself.

This app is also great for beginners because you only need to focus on one process and the audio accompanying the app will be a helpful and additional tool to calm the wandering mind and reach a meditative state.

qigong

Natalia believes that “qigong is the gentlest introduction to yoga and any other physical practice for beginners. Qigong is a series of breathing exercises enhanced with a range of physical activities. This practice focuses on carefully combining and deepening the knowledge of breathing techniques with physical exercises. , it will also help to focus on the body and the sensations in it. The result is definitely worth it: the practice has a calming effect and the mind becomes clear and “opened up”. In addition, qigong is more intensely involved in the body and the breath is like bowls in sound healing. prepares for more dynamic forms of yoga where it is a supportive and guiding tool.

hatha

“Hatha is to some extent a fundamental and popular aspect of yoga at its best. This undoubtedly helps to spread mindfulness ideas without mysticism and esotericism. But such popularity also makes it difficult to find a true and profound master of hatha, and this practice is only a handful of leads to being perceived as asana (according to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, “it is a position. a relaxed and balanced body”) and an alternative to the gym, something that is of course fundamentally wrong and that we are trying to change thanks to our teachers at the Ashram. The depth and beauty of this practice is achieved through a combination of well-tuned asanas with controlled breathing and concentration. The combination of these three “tools” will make you feel the full power of this direction.”