Do Your Best Darth Vader! Breathing Tricks To Warm Up Fast
Breathe like the yogis do with pranayama, which boasts the ability to heat the body among other benefits. (PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN SHEARER/GETTY)
by Erica Rodefer Winters, for Rodale’s Organic Life
As idyllic as it sounds, it’s not really practical to always be near a fireplace to stay warm. So, short of piling on the layers, how can you keep winter’s chill at bay? The yoga practice of pranayama, or mindful breathing, boasts the ability to heat the body among other benefits, such as focusing your mind and boosting energy.
Kapalabhati (Skull Shining Breath)
This quick, exhale-based breath is Charleston, South Carolina yoga teacher’s Trace Bonner first choice for stoking your internal fire and getting warm fast. Here’s how to do it: Sitting comfortably with a tall spine, bring your hands to rest on your low belly, one on top of the other. Inhale through your nose and, contracting your stomach muscles, exhale forcefully through the nostrils. Let your lungs fill with air naturally and then contract and exhale quickly. Repeat up to 30 times, focusing on the exhalation and creating a pumping motion in your belly. When done, take a few natural breaths.
Related: 20 Reasons To Start Meditating
Ujjayi Breathing (Victorious Breath)
If you’ve ever done vinyasa yoga, you’ve likely encountered ujjayi, sometimes called ocean or Darth Vader breath because of its deep internal “rushing” sound. This sound is used to “regulate the mind,” as the yogis say, as well as to help warm the muscles and keeping a smooth rhythm when flowing from pose to pose. But you don’t need to be doing yoga to enjoy the warming benefits of ujjayi.
Here’s how to do it: Ujjayi is a diaphragmatic breath, with the pace and depth controlled by the diaphragm. With mouth closed, gently constrict the throat as you slowly and deeply inhale and exhale through the nose, creating the deep ocean sound in your chest cavity. Make the inhalation and exhalation equal in duration. Repeat up to 20 times.
PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN FREEMAN/GETTY
Nadi Shodhana (Alternate-Nostril Breathing)
Sit up tall. Rest your non-dominant hand lightly in your lap. Take the other hand and rest the tips of your index and middle finger between your eyebrows. They’ll stay here throughout, while you’ll use your ring finger and thumb for the technique.
Related: The Healthiest Way To Breathe
Inhale and exhale fully through both nostrils. On the next inhalation, close your right nostril by pressing either your thumb or ring finger along the outside of it, so the air only goes through the left nostril. At the top of the inhalation, press the other finger against your left nostril, so both are now closed, and pause briefly. To exhale, open just your right nostril and breath out. Pause briefly at the bottom of the exhale. Keeping the right nostril open, inhale. At the top of the inhale, close both nostrils again and pause briefly. Exhale out the left side, pausing for a beat at the bottom before inhaling through that same side. Continue like this for several rounds, alternating exhaling and then inhaling through each nostril, and pausing at the top and bottom of each breath.
This article was originally published on Rodale’s Organic Life.
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