Published October 25, 2026 10:05AM
In Yoga Journal’s Archives series, we share a curated collection of articles originally published in past issues beginning in 1975. This article about restricting your breath first appeared in the November-December 1992 issue of Yoga Journal. You can find more of our Archives here.
Our breath is constantly rising and falling, ebbing and flowing, entering and leaving our bodies. Full body breathing is an extraordinary symphony of both powerful and subtle movements that massage internal organs, oscillate joints, and alternately tone and release muscle tissue.
The waves of our breath also carry emotional content, sexual stirrings, and messages from the psyche, and they open us to our own creative potential. All human movement is informed by this internal oceanic tide. Learning to move with our breath, rather than against it or without its support, can transform our yoga practice and our life. When we move in harmony with our breath, our outer actions will be in accord with our deep inner experience.
Because respiration is primarily regulated by involuntary controls through the central nervous system, we might wonder why anyone should bother to “work” with their breath. After all, our bodies are breathing automatically day and night. But is calm, rhythmic breathing the usual state of your body? My observations as a yoga teacher have led me to conclude that shallow breathing and chronic breath holding are so prevalent in our culture that a person who can breathe freely is rare. This is a frightening state of affairs, considering the impact poor breathing has upon our health, well-being, and quality of life.
What does it mean to breathe in a healthy, functional way? This question is more difficult to answer than one might think. As pioneering breath-worker Ilse Middendorf points out, at one end of the spectrum is the unconscious, involuntary breath; at the other end is breathing that is controlled and regulated by the will, such as the classic pranayama exercises. In between these two extremes lies the “essential” breath, a conscious flow that arises out of the depth of our being and dissolves effortlessly back into our core. To access this essential breath, we must first be able to focus on and perceive our own breathing process; that is, we must make the unconscious conscious.
Some schools of yoga have incorporated breath and movement by designating specific patterns of regulation—for example, inhaling for 10 counts as you lift your arms. While this approach may give the practitioner a certain confidence by providing a structure to rely on, it does not offer access to the essential breath.
Other schools treat the breath as something that is added (if at all) only after the asanas are perfected. This latter approach is analogous to trying to learn to sail without knowing what wind is. If we ignore the breath, we will rely on willpower to create and sustain our poses.
When our will is driven from an external reference point—a mental concept of how the poses should look or how our breath should move—we will practice to become who we think we should be, rather than discovering, through the self-acceptance that is implicit in free breathing, who we actually are.
Movement arises from breathing, and breathing is stimulated and shaped by movement. Each informs the other. Therefore, to learn basic movement we have to learn to perceive the fundamental flow of the breath—not in an artificial, controlled form, but in its purest state.
Breath Awareness in Everyday Activities
Even the most advanced yoga practice is of little practical use if we can’t extend our awareness into our everyday lives. After you’ve practiced observing your breath in controlled situations, pick one of the following exercises and work with it for at least a week before you continue to the next one.
1. Watching
Record the activities and situations in which you notice yourself breathing shallowly or holding your breath. Especially note your interactions with people with whom you are uncomfortable or anxious. Observe whether the other person breathes shallowly or quickly or holds her breath. Are you matching her breath pattern? Do you hold your breath during discussions that involve conflict or stressful topics, or when you find it difficult to tell someone the truth?
2. Moving
Choose one simple activity in which you have regularly noticed yourself holding your breath. It should be an activity where there are no time constraints or pressures, such as making your bed. Practice allowing your breath to move freely as an integral part of the activity.
3. Eating
Set aside one meal a day in which you do not feel any time constraints. Let yourself breathe slowly as you eat. Notice how it feels to allow your belly to release as you chew and swallow your food. Observe whether your meal was more enjoyable. If you tend to overeat or have digestive problems, did monitoring your breathing help you stop eating when you felt your stomach becoming full? How did you feel after your meal—energized, fatigued, satisfied?
4. Talking
Practice reading a short paragraph aloud while allowing the breath to support your words. Read at a speed that is congruent with your breath capacity, letting yourself pause when necessary. Then proceed to monitoring your breath during telephone conversations. When you feel ready, watch yourself as you talk with a casual acquaintance. Your graduation exam for this exercise is to practice breathing during an argument. How does this practice change the way you interact with others and the outcome of your interactions?
5. Daily vigilance
Punctuate your day with moments where you check your breathing. You might use a cue, like observing your breath every time you hear a phone ring or see your favorite color. Try not to chastise yourself if you find yourself holding your breath. Just note the situation you are in, notice how you are feeling, and gently return to a more relaxed breath pattern.
