By Kyle Roderick
Do you experience your breath as the life force that activates your body? Or are you only conscious of your breath when you’re winded? According to Ashland, Oregon-based yoga teacher Max Strom, “Breath is a gift that we seldom use to our health advantage. Once you start breathing consciously, you are activating your life force and your self-healing technology. This in turn can be used to heal your life and your relationships.” At Strom’s retreat “Learn to Breathe: To Heal Yourself and Your Relationships,” at the Santa Barbara Yoga Center, participants explored how the primal power of breath can inspire the mind and body.
Why should we focus so much attention on a no- brainer like breathing? As Strom puts it, “Most people take shallow breaths as a result of being sedentary, over-caffeinated, time-crunched, stressed, or spaced-out. Practicing yoga and breathing,” he continues, “helps us remember how to breathe and stay strong, yet restful in our bodies, while lightening our minds.”
Under Strom’s guidance, participants practiced gentle pranayama breathing exercises. (Prana is the Sanskrit word for life force or breath, and yama means retention.) For example, while standing with legs hip-width apart, the group learned how to do ujayi breathing, the fundamental yoga breath.
Ujayi (which means victorious) is an oceanic-sounding breath that is produced by inhaling deeply, filling the lungs with air and breathing fully through the back of the throat. Ujayi breathing also initiates each yoga asana, or movement.
“If you watch an infant’s stomach you will see that they automatically practice ujayi breathing,” Strom explains. When we practice conscious breathing and yoga, we access our essential energies and identities, he asserts. “Our true selves live and breathe independent of our social identities,” Strom continues. “So much of who you think you are is comprised of culturally programmed behaviors and labels that may lack ultimate truth.”
Noting that many ancient languages use the same word for breath and spirit, Strom added that, “Conscious breathing can keep you calm, strong, and focused regardless of stress, injury, heartache, or trauma.” Strom suggests practicing the ujayi breath in the morning, during breaks in the day and especially in stressful times. Strom’s DVD, “Yoga Strength, Grace and Healing,” which is available at www.maxstrom.com, also offers inspiring instruction.
March/April 2007
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