Two of the fundamental pillars of Yoga Asana are Heat and the Breath.
Heat ~
When you heat the body it becomes pliable. The combination of motion and breath in yoga builds healing heat that burns away tension (stuck energy). Muscular motion creates heat that softens your tissue and makes you malleable. Heat heals, heat protects your body from injuries; and heat helps you go further into your poses!
A hot room can boost the purifying fire and help you build and maintain a fluid quality to your movements. The heat helps you sweat, one of the most important mechanisms of natural healing as it enables the body to release toxins. At first you may not like the heat, but pretty soon you will feel so good you wonder how you could have practiced without it.
Breath ~
Your BREATH is pure raw energy that sweeps through your body, every inhalation bringing new life into your body, every exhalation cleaning it out. The breath we use for asana practice is called Ujjayi breathing, an audible breath that has a soothing, rhythmic quality. It is done by contracting the whispering muscles at the base of your throat between your collarbones, closing the airways a little – kind of like breathing through a straw, imagine breathing into this soft spot. For the exhalation, mouth closed and muscles in throat still contacted, put your hand in front of your face as if it’s a mirror. Gently retract your belly and exhale through your nose as if to fog up the mirror.
Throughout your practice breathe deep and free!
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