(Originally posted in April 2015)

Breathe in, breathe out. Your body does this automatically, you don’t even need to think about it. It controls the rate and depth of the breath depending on its needs.

Breathing is one bodily function that you can also do consciously. You can control the length, depth and location of your breath if you choose to.

You may have noticed that when you are stressed or anxious, your breath becomes shallow and fast. This is one of the physiological stress responses which are there to help you handle the situation. On a side note, your body responds to “perceived” stress, so whether you are getting chased by a bear or thinking about a stressful situation, the response is the same.

But did you know that if you consciously take shallow and quick breaths, you will start feeling stressed?

Yes, it works both ways.

Your body influences your mind and your mind influences your body. Which is great news! Because it also means that if you breathe deeper and slower, you are sending the message to your body that it is OK to relax. Controlling your breath in this way will trigger the relaxation response instead.

Your breath is the connection between your mind and your body.

In yoga, we use our breath to lead our movements and focus for our mind. During a yoga class, the teacher will guide you to inhale or exhale on certain movements. The breath is very important in yoga for a few reasons.

• It is one way to keep your mind focused and to stay present with your practice. Feeling your breath coming in and out through your nose and feel your lungs brings you back to here and now.

• It increases body awareness. You connect to your body through the feeling of your breath and release tension by bringing your attention to certain parts of your body.

Your yoga practice is the best time and place to re-learn how to breathe well (see my previous post). It re-trains your parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) to kick in even in challenging situations. Take the example of holding a pose for a long time. It is a challenge in a yoga class and keeping your breath steady and slow means that your PNS is turning on instead of your sympathetic nervous system (fight-or-flight). It re-programs your body to respond in a certain way to particular situations.

To start restoring the connection between your body and your mind, you can practice taking fuller, deeper breaths.

Take a moment every day to pay attention to your breath and become aware of how you breathe.

The quality of your breath is linked to the quality of your life!