Breath and the Heart

Observe too
The place in the body,
The duration, and the count.
II.50B

"You can also send the breath, just in your mind, to a part of your body where you're not so strong yet, to give it sort of an energy boost. You just picture the energy of the breath flowing down and freeing up any part of your body that feels stuck or "choked". It really is true that picturing your back loosening up, getting better again, can actually help it happen, as you do your poses. This is one big secret of how yoga really works."

"Now the master says too that you have to watch the duration of your breath - how long it takes to get a full breath in, and then a full breath out. Which is to say how fast you are breathing. It's not really important how fast or slow you breathe, but rather that your breathing is deep and rhythmic, without any gasping or panting - no broken starts and stops, no ragged edges."

"The habit of staying aware of the count, or making sure that the out-breath takes the same number of heartbeats as the in-breath, also begins to carry over into your everyday life - say, while you are working at your desk or facing a tense situation, it relaxes you and helps keep you from choking off your inner channels (nadis) in the first place."


How Yoga Works
Geshe Michael Roach & Christie McNally