Inhale | Exhale
A while back, one of my students, a Hollywood studio attorney, thought I’d be interested in knowing how she tactically utilized one of the characteristic elements of my Yin yoga classes out in the wild. Indeed, I was.
She was part of a negotiation in, as I pictured it, a high-rise conference room with floor to ceiling view-windows overlooking LA palm trees, traffic, and mountains. There, seated in comfortable leather chairs, at a long dark-walnut table, with bottles of Fiji water next to laptops and iPads, the suits were volleying. Tension was building as terms were being hammered out. The stakes were high. Everyone was nervous. And her turn to serve was coming up.
In preparation she put her hands in her lap, right in left, thumbs touching, and quietly drew in through her nose a light, slow, and deep breath, then released it passively. Aaah. Calm, comfort, and serenity … before the storm.
An Aside
Not for nothing, this student is pretty, petite, and perky in that sorority-girl kind of way. In a word, disarming. One could almost be forgiven for mistaking her for window dressing. In my own experience, through some years of Kung Fu training, I’ve met such unassuming 100-pound school-girls now and again.
For instance, in a free workout, which is kind of a sparring affair, I’d cavalierly advance as any guy who’s over a head taller might do and, like jumping into a pool of mousetraps, would immediately feel the stings. There, caught in a disorienting vortex of knuckles, elbows, knees, and heels I’d chuckle to myself as the girly-girl broke me into pieces. Happily, I could get up, dust off, and carry on. It was a class after all. Just a training simulation. Business dealings, however, aren’t.
Back to Center Court
The student skipped the details but given that she was all smiles, she had handily dismantled her corporate adversaries. At her level, artful articulation and thorough preparation is expected, though not always a given.
Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.
— Sun Tzu
[She] who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not, will be victorious.
She did know the landscape, her opponents, and her desired outcome. All that was left was the moment. Her decision to consciously inhale and exhale, breathing her Yin breath, established her Zen countenance. And then …
Sun Tsu would be proud. Me too.
Yin Yoga Breathing Protocol
So what did she do to apprehend this instant equanimity? Yin yoga breathing, of course. Here’s the process:
- Sit comfortably
- Bring both hands into the lap, right in left, thumbs touching — Dhyana Mudra
- Exhale …
- Inhale through your nose, over a count of four seconds, lightly, slowly, and deeply
- So lightly that you cannot even hear your own breathing
- So slowly that a dandelion puffball beneath your nostrils wouldn’t be disturbed
- And, deeply means diaphragmatically — your abdomen expands on each inhale, contracts on each exhale
- Exhale through your nose, over a count of six seconds, passively, just releasing the breath
- Repeat, reminding yourself that you’re breathing in calm, comfort, and serenity, and breathing out stress and tension
Counterintuitive?
Even as it is inherently relaxing, at first, continuously using this Yin breath, this reduced breath, isn’t necessarily easy. An inhale over four seconds, an exhale over six seconds is likely longer than your usual breathing rate. It’s ten full seconds! Just six breath cycles per minute! Such a slow cadence could cause you to experience something known as air hunger. That’s the feeling that you want to take a bigger breath. Great, but that hardly seems relaxing.
It’s a Practice
In the safety of your yoga classes and meditations do your best to stay with this Yin breathing for five minutes at a time. Of course, if you must, breathe normally for a few cycles then return to your Yin breath when you can. After a while you’ll become comfortable with this breathing pattern as it does get easier the more you do it. Soon enough you’ll find yourself riding the Goldilocks cusp of air hunger for as long as you’d like. You’re then able to relax your body and calm your mind at will. Shazam! Even a single breath cycle can be instantly settling. As it’s said, control your breathing; control your being.
So…
Practice your Yin breathing in weekly live-streaming Yin yoga classes on Zoom, or in On Demand replay recordings, anytime, anywhere. To get started, why not try out a FREE WEEK of Yin yoga, On Demand?