The Daily Om: Tadasana Tuesday - Breathe

Tada : Mountain,  asana : Pose = Mountain Pose

Tadasana (aka Mountain Pose) is often a starting position in a yogic routine which consists of standing with arms straight down one's sides for balance and alignment. It is a grounding position where you may become one with your breath. This is your foundation.

Asana is a Sanskrit word translated into English as a physical yoga position, posture, or pose. But, there is a difference between the everyday usage of those words and asana.

Moving into an asana, the body moves consciously with fluid movement that is coordinated with the flow of breath. Asana is conscious movement into a traditional yoga pose. The movement is physically and mentally relaxed. Balanced equilibrium maintains the asana when it is held in a stable state. As the body and breath movements are synchronized in a relaxed way, a full awareness of both is developed. A steady asana is a portal to higher awareness of the body and mind.

A specific asana uses the movement to direct and infuse a particular part of the body with prana or vital energy. This can help relieve tension or tightness, heal, and create a much greater awareness of prana as blockages to its smooth flow are removed. As the awareness of the body and movement deepens, bad habits and negative conditioning can be replaced with more conscious, positive movements of the body.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

99.9% of Yoga comes from the breath. After all, 100% of life comes from the breath but how many times do you actually stop to notice how important the breath is to you as a being? Be honest, you take it for granted, we all do.

'Breathing is the most important thing in your life, everything else can wait ’ - this is a wonderful quote I repeat daily in my own life, taken from Barefoot doctors school of warriors. But that’s me, I breathe because I’m reminded daily as a Yogi that it’s something I must do. I’m a breathing teacher. I teach people to breathe! It sounds crazy but it's true. It’s what I tend to categorize myself as on those days when I’m asked for a job title :) 

Anyway back to it. Throughout my years of teaching, I’ve noticed more often than not that people DON’T breathe but they still manage to stay alive (well kind of) and standing on two feet. It baffles me how they manage it! The other day, I taught a group of people who were suffering from depression. One man came to the class for the first time after attempting to commit suicide just a few weeks ago. He spent five minutes in the class and when I began the specific Yoga breathing techniques (known as pranayama) he had to leave the room with his care-giver due to the onset of a panic attack, all because he was confronted with having to breathe and relax. This is extreme but not uncommon. When you think about it, it’s pretty hard to believe that our ‘life force’ our ‘Prana’ our ‘Chi’ - whatever you want to call it - can be so detached from our being that it becomes so alien to us. It eventually does us more harm than good.

Here's a vital task that can change your life and certainly your mood in less than 3 minutes:

Today take ten long slooow deep breaths, in through the nose and out...
Expand your abdomen like a large balloon as you inhale and allow it to gently deflate as you exhale. Take your inhale from the tips of your toes to the crown of your head. Take your out breath from the crown of your head to the tips of your toes. Allow the feelings of expansion to fill your whole being on the inhale and allow the feeling of gentle contraction and relaxation as you exhale. After ten breaths notice how you feel then go and teach someone else exactly the same breathing technique, get them to pass it on and eventually together we can have the whole world breathing :)

'Breathe for Life!'

Namaste!

A bit about our Author, Camille Brown: Hi there and welcome to my segment, The Daily Om. I'm a twenty-something lover of health, fitness, yoga, personal style, reiki, nature, travelling, and capturing those special moments in life that matter the most. My daily goal is to be the best I can, give all I know about yoga, holistic living, and just living your most authentic natural life. I will offer challenging asanas that will push your personal limits in order to achieve success on the mat and offer insight mantras to get your day started your day on a positive note. Remember, "A day without laughing is a day wasted." 
Read more from her at http://lotusflowerwellness.blogspot.com