Master Your Mood With Yogic Breathing

Yogic breathing techniques, or Pranayama, are addictive. It is easy to misjudge the power of your breath by dismissing this practice as sitting and doing nothing.

It’s a deceptively simple-looking and subtle practice, from the outside. But within, you are working with a world of wonderful possibilities that can help you map and chart your mood.

Perfect Polarities

The key idea to grasp is that of balancing polarities. The qualities of the inhale, multiplied by its retention, are stimulating, energizing and heat-building. Conversely, the exhale (and its retention) is calming, soothing and cooling.

Deep and even breathing will uplift sluggishness or calm anxiety. The key is a slight hold at the top of the breath and an equal pause on the exhale. When we breathe evenly, we use these two powerful polarities to regulate and stabilize our mood.

Counterbalancing Techniques

Sometimes, however, our moods are so extreme that we need to work with the breath in a counterbalancing way. If you find that even breathing with momentary breath retention is not calming or, conversely, not energizing enough, then you can elongate one side of the breath or the other.

Intuitive Inhalations

For example, if you are feeling depressed and lethargic, shorten your exhales and eliminate breath retention on the exhale, which would further calm you. In this case, you are shifting that time over to the invigorating inhale.

Now try holding the top of the inhale for three or four seconds, with no pause on the exhale. How do you feel after five full cycles of breath? Do you need to retain your inhale a bit longer?

Once you know and feel the different effects of the top and bottom of the breath, experiment with where and for how long you place your holds.

Visualizing the Polarities

The more you experiment with the effects of breath retention, the more you will know intuitively how to breathe when you feel sad or stressed, and you will also know how to breathe when you need to boost your energy or mental clarity.

The principle of polarities of the breath stems from the yogic concepts of the Ida and Pingala. You can visualize these as long strands spiraling up the main energy channel in the body, the Sushumna (spinal column).

The Ida and Pingala intersect at each of the energy vortexes of the body, called the chakras, and then end at the nostrils. The Ida finishes at the left nostril and governs the same qualities as the exhale. The Pingala ends at the right nostril and corresponds to the qualities of the inhale.

Using the Ida and the Pingala

Using the same principles of balance and counterbalance, drop into alternate nostril breath, or Nadi Shodhana, and begin by bringing an energetic balance to your body and mind by equalizing your breath through each nostril.

Now, notice what you need: do you need to raise or lower your energy levels? If you need a little upper, inhale through the right nostril and out the left, and repeat. To quiet your mind, inhale through the left nostril and out the right. If you want to explore a little further, try combining the two techniques by inhaling through the right nostril and then pausing on that inhale.

Remember, yogic breathing is a very powerful tool, so a little goes a long way. Work with these techniques in short sittings, when you need them the most, and you will soon become master of your moods!