No asana this morning, today’s class (in-a-book) being all about breath. Practising the complete breath, also known as dirgha breath or full yogic breath. Just what I needed today, slow breaths filling the body from abdomen, chest and into the shoulders, holding for five then a full emptying. Stale air is extracted and the lungs are used to their full capacity, allowing more oxygen into the system. Not to mention prana, chi, life force, energy. Oops, I mentioned it. The movement of the diaphragm and abdomen allows for a gentle massage of the abdominal organs. Nice way to start a day, smooth and steady. I bring full breathing into my day whenever I have the possibility.

I’m teaching my first asana class this afternoon!

From Hittleman:

You will experience a very immediate, positive effect on your emotions and mind from yogic breathing. When breath is slow and rhythmic, anxieties and tensions lessen or dissolve completely.

Krishnamurti, Book of Life, 5th January:

If you would listen… in the sense of being aware of your conflicts and contradictions without forcing them into any particular pattern of thought, perhaps they might altogether cease. You see, we are constantly trying to be this or that, to achieve a particular state, to capture one kind of experience and avoid another, so the mind is everlastingly occupied with something; it is never still to listen to the noise of its own struggles and pains.