How to Slow Down Your Breathing Rate in 3 minutes - 2 Simple Techniques

Breathing rate is one of the barometers using which you can easily measure the state of mind. If the breathing is slow and deep, the mind is calm; on the contrary, if the breathing is fast and shallow the mind is agitated or you would feel stressed out.

All of us are aware that calm mind means clearer thinking and we are at a lesser stressful state. So how can you slow down your breathing so that you are happier and calmer? Usually the best way to calm down the mind is meditation. However meditation needs patience and practice and most people think they do not have the time or skill for practicing meditation.

So, what is the next best alternative?

Let me describe two simple ways to bring down your breathing rate very fast.

These techniques are definitely not my own, but I have tested them and found to be very useful. One of the techniques I read somewhere and the other one I discovered while observing the breathing technique. I keep on experimenting with many things and in the process discover or realize many beautiful findings; and these two techniques are among the few of my findings -

Beauty of these two techniques is you do not need to put much effort or do not need to concentrate for very long time. In fact you should see the results in 3 to 4 minutes. These can also be tried at office as these techniques do not need much time or preparation.

Breath Calming Technique 1 - Observing the Breath Gap

1. Sit straight so that spine is straight.
2. Now concentrate on the breathing, though continue to breathe normally.
3. Now move your attention to the gap between two breaths. Focus on how you have breathed out and now waiting for the body to breathe in again.
4. Gradually you will notice that the breathing is becoming lengthier automatically. You will start breathing longer and deeper and enter a meditative state very fast.

Breath Calming Technique 2 - Following the Breath Path

1. Sit straight so that spine is straight. In this technique it is more important for the spine to be straight as compared to the previous technique.
2. Now concentrate on the breathing, though continue to breathe normally for 3 to 4 times.
3. Now move your attention to the effects of the breath. Observer how breath enters the nose and it is gradually reaching the lungs and fills it slowly... and once the lungs are full, how it is now filling up the abdomen region.
4. Just observe the break body takes and now observe how gradually the breath is leaving the abdomen, the lungs and finally out of the nose.
5. Very quickly you will notice that the breathing is becomes longer automatically. You will start breathing longer and deeper.

So next time you feel little stressed out in the office, sit quietly and try one of these techniques and soon your would be able to resume your work with much calmer mind and composed self.

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Uttanasana - Forward Bending Pose to Calm your Mind

In my experience I have seen that most people who do not practice yoga are aware about their inflexible muscles. They are familiar that it is not that easy to even touch the toe. In fact I have seen most people when trying to touch the ground are just able to take the finger tips till the calf level. Are you in this group of people? If the answer is yes, Uttanasana is the pose you should practice.

Uttanasana is one of the forward bending poses practiced in standing position. In this pose the body bends forward from the hips and the purpose is to touch the knee with the head. But, that is not that easy and you should try to stretch as much is comfortable to you.

In theory steps for practice of this posture are not complicated. What is required is constant practice. Even after a short practice of a week also you can observe great improvement in your flexibility.

Steps to Practice Uttanasana

1. Stand straight with feet joint together.
2. Inhale deeply and raise the hands above the head parallel to each other.
3. With exhalation, slowly bend forward till you reach your limit of stretching. Try to touch the head on the knee and if that is not possible then take the head towards the knee. Hold the back of the legs with the hand. Continue normal breathing.
4. When you practice initially you will find that you can hardly stretch yourself. But the secret is to stay longer in this pose. After few breaths, tighten your hamstring and stretch a little forward.
5. You will notice that this way you can stretch forward more. Stay in a position for few breaths and then again stretch.
6. After 30 seconds inhale and come back to original position.

Tip
If you practice this pose after practicing few other standing poses, you will find it is easier to practice this pose.

Benefits

1. It calms down the nerves of the head region and there is increase in blood flow to the region. In Light on Yoga, it is mentioned that if practiced for more than two minutes it helps fight depression and reduces stress.
2. Because of increased blood flow in the neck and head region, the muscles, tissues and nerves of the region get sufficient oxygen and it helps facial skin, hair, and improve eyesight and hearing.
3. The posture provides a complete stretch to the legs and the entire back and provide flexibility to the muscles.
4. It rejuvenates the spinal nerves and the nervous system in general.
5. Since the abdomen is pressed it helps tones the organs of the stomach including kidneys, liver, and spleen. Because of this it is a great pose to improve digestion and get rid of many problems like constipation and IBS.

Warning
If you have lower back pain then do not practice this pose.

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Living the Moment and Defeat the Constant Worry

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

The Secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, nor to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.

~ Buddha

Often we find ourselves thinking and worrying about the future. Another thing you may notice about the thoughts pattern ~ Most of the time the thought patterns are negative in nature which causes worry and stress. Living in the moment may be the solution to the problem of constant worry.

For those of you who are not habituated to observing your thoughts, just try this simple 10 minute exercise. Sit quietly and start observing your breathing. The task is very simple in nature. You just need to observe the breath. Observe that you are breathing in; then breathing out. Keep on observing the in and out movement of the breath.

The chances are that you would soon start thinking of something else and stop the observation. As soon as become aware that you have stopped observing the breath, bring back the awareness to the breathing. This is a good starting point to meditation.

You will observe that there are two kinds of thoughts ~ Either about the past events or about the future anticipated events. Many of the past events about which you think could be the negative events like someone hurting you, or saying something unpleasant. When these thoughts pass the mind, you would then start thinking about how you would deal with the person next time he/she hurts you and what you may tell that person. We then start getting angry and tense. These is the exact problem that happens when we do not live in the moment. We keep on reacting to the past and future events and that breeds unhappiness and creates suffering.

When we live in the moment and just focus on the current tasks, we are benefited in two ways - the task on hand gets done really well and results would be there for you to see; and during those moments just think of the task and not about the results and would feel less stressed. When this happens again and again you come to know the value of living in the moment more and more.

When you do not live the moment, you tend to be in hurry to complete as many tasks as possible in the shortest possible time. We may start thinking that we may miss some important tasks. Nature also does every thing so slowly yet so beautifully. It is not in a hurry to create. Everything gets done. Similarly when we start doing something which is important and just focus on that you can get much more done in lesser time.

The above mentioned breath observation exercise is part of Vipassana course which is a life changing 10 day course held all over the world. These teaching were originally taught by the Buddha and are relevant even today.

Some simple tips on Living the Moment

• While working on a task in the office, disconnect the email till you finish the task.
• You can also keep the phone on mute and let it go to voice mail and respond later.
• While practicing yoga just focus on the current pose. Then bring the focus on the particular muscles.
• Practice breath observation everyday for some time.
• Practice Silence.
• Try to do only one task at a time. For example while eating do not watch TV.

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Recognize Your Stress Agents at Work

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosengrant/ / CC BY-ND 2.0

I have a colleague who is a very nice person and very focused on his work. Let’s call him Ravi. I was recently talking to a Ravi he mentioned how stressed he was after the office everyday.

“Nilendu, when I reach home in the evening, I am very tired and have no energy left. My head feels heavy and the neck is also tired.” Ravi said.

“Ravi, is your current project too much stressful?” I inquired.
“It is. But the stress I feel is more on physical level and not on mental level” He replied.
He continued “This problem disappears when I take vacations or on the weekends. That means this has something to do with the work environment.”
“I agree with you totally. There can be various factors which can be the reason of your problem.” I told him.

When we later analyzed his working style he rarely moved for couple of hours while involved in some tasks. That tired his neck and shoulder muscles a lot and resulted in tiredness. Ravi started taking short breaks more often and did some light shoulder movements. Doing this kept his neck and shoulder muscles relaxed and he was able to control the problem to a large extent. Ideally people should also include exercise in their daily activity to avoid such problems.

Since we work in a software development and consultancy firm I know that our job involves sitting for long hours in front of the computers.

This is a common problem with many people who work on computers for long hours. When we work on the desk for a long time and do not move the muscles start tiring and soon that drains our energy. By the end of the day you would not be left with much energy to spend on your family and kids.

When we work on thinking of a solution for a particular tough problem our focus shifts to that issue totally and during the thought process the physical movements become very less. That is almost similar to meditative process though due to the task in hand and the work environment it is not as relaxing as meditation and in fact causes bodily stress.

Here are few indicators of stress you can check and you can go through the list every hour to see if you are putting some body part under undue stress.

Neck Region : Is your neck thrust forward while working. Do you continuously look up or down during work. When there is less movement of the neck muscles these can cause serious long term problems and make you stressed out by the evening. Move you neck sideways and rotate them frequently.

Shoulder Region : Observe your shoulders. Are they raised up? This can especially happen if the desk is not at the correct height. Constantly keeping the shoulder raised up tires out the shoulder muscles.

Lower Back : Wrong sitting posture, wrong type of chair or constantly sitting for a long time can cause lower back pain. If you feel that lower back is getting tired, get up and take a walk around the office for few minutes.
Forehead and eyebrows : Sometimes when we concentrate too much we squeeze our eyes and forehead. This can also be sign that there may be eye problem. Another issue while working on computers is we blink very less and these can cause red eye or dry eye problem. Eye problems are frequent cause of tiredness

Observing there few tiredness originators and indicators can help you to have a more energetic life after the office.

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Reduce Stress with Walking Meditation

I discovered walking meditation during my stay in US around 3 years back. Till that time I was aware on mainly the sitting meditation technique. I joined a mindfulness group meditation in Davenport which is a town located in Iowa and is part of quad cities on the banks of river Mississippi. This group practices walking meditation and I also joined them.

Walking meditation is being practiced since the time of Buddha for last two thousand years and it is still practiced even today. This technique is relaxing and increases the body awareness and reduces stress.

Steps to Practice Walking Meditation

Key thing to keep in mind is that our aim is to increase the awareness and that will only come when we slow down everything, and especially the mind. Mind, breath and body has lot of connection. Moving slowly, slows down the mind hence we should reduce our pace and practice in relaxed manner with respect to body while keeping the mind focused.

1. Select a quiet room or a garden where it is not crowded. It is preferable to be bare feet as that will help you to be more aware of the feet. When we wear shoes, our feet is supported by the shoe surface and we cannot feel the entire feet properly.


2. Stand in a relaxed manner and feel the skin below the feet touching the floor. Observe how the pressure is applied to the different regions of the feet surface touching the ground and how various muscles react when we stand quietly.


3. Start moving. Remember that you should do this very slowly. Start lifting the right feet. You can slow down this by first observing how the heel is lifted then middle region of the feet and finally toes. Observe how the muscles of the other feet are affected and where the pressure is applied on the entire left leg, and especially the lower leg region.


4. After lifting the right leg place in around 1.5 foot forward and observe how the weight is slowly transferred to the right leg.


5. Now stop for 3-4 seconds on the transition and observe the legs muscles.


6. Keep moving forward very slowly and keep observing the lower leg region.


7. Doing this for 10 to 15 minutes will bring you to meditative stage.


8. After 10 to 15 minutes you can slowly come back to original position and slowly sit down. If you want you can continue with sitting meditation or keep observing yourself for some time.

Gradually increase the awareness to the upper body by focusing on the effects of walking on the upper body muscles.

Benefits of Walking Meditation

1. Relaxes and reduces stress.


2. Increase the body balance.


3. Reduces the body stiffness due to sitting in meditative poses for long and at the same time lets you continue the meditation.


4. Increases the endurance and strength of the legs

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Throat Breathing For Relaxation

When we practice the different poses of yoga sometimes we give more importance the poses and less to the relaxation after the practice. Relaxation is equally important part of yoga practice. Relaxing properly will ensure that the tiredness is minimum, mind becomes stable and we can feel the affect of the poses on the various body parts on a deeper level.

After the practice of Asanas there are various ways to relax like Shavasana or deep breathing while the body is loose. Throat breathing is another technique which is an easy way to relax and remove tiredness. This is basically a variation of Ujjayi Pranayama and relaxes all mind and the body. In Ujjayi Pranayama the awareness is more on the throat. The air we breathe passes through the throat to the lungs but we are usually not aware of this phenomena. This Pranayama aims to bring the awareness to this region and helps in relaxation.

The steps for this relaxation technique is very simple and anyone can practice this. This can be practiced in both sitting and lying position. If you do it for some time the experience which you will have is similar to what we have just before we go to deep sleep.

Steps to Practice Throat Breathing

1. Lie down on the mat in Shavasana and adjust the body so that it is in its most relaxed state. You can also sit in a meditative pose like Padmasana or Vajrasana and make sure that the spine is straight.


2. Close your eyes and start breathing and make slight effort to ensure that the air touches the top of the throat while passing. Try to observe the noise of air touching the throat. The noises will be different while inhaling and exhaling. While inhaling it will like "sa" and while exhaling it will be like "pa".


3. The sound should not be too loud but you should be able to hear that.


4. Do it slowly and with deep breathing.


5. Do this for 5 minutes and then come out slowly from the pose after being still for some time.

As a variation it is also practice with tip of the tongue touching the upper floor of the mouth. This is known as Kechari Mudra.

Benefits
This pranayama will relax you completely and drain out the tiredness and nervous tension in all the muscles of the body.

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Yoga Tip - Rejuvenate and Improve Concentration with Nadi Shodhan

Concentration and stress are related to each other. When you are stressed out you can concentrate on any task. Reducing stress improves the concentration and increases you decision making capacity in day to day tasks. Using a simple Pranayama you get double benefit of reducing the stress and improving the concentration plus other benefits.

Here is how you can improve your concentration with this variation Nadi Shodhan Pranayama. This technique is very simple and here is how you do it and most important part is the practice as usual.

Sit in a quite place and concentrate on the breathing. Start imagining that you are inhaling and exhaling from alternate nostrils.

Here are the steps.

1. Imagine that the inhalation is from the left nostril.


2. Imagine exhaling from right nostril.


3. Now again imagine that you are now inhaling from right nostril.


4. Finally exhale from the left nostril.

This is one round. Do this for 12 rounds.

Initially it will be difficult but with practice you will see that you will have more controls on both the nostrils. Imagination is very important initially and only concentrate on one nostril at a time even if you are aware that other nostril is being used. Gradually you will gain total control on the nostrils and you will be able to breathe from the respective nostrils at will.

Benefits

1. Rejuvenates and oxygenates the nervous system


2. Improves concentration and control on the breathing.


3. You can meditate easily


4. Balances the energy flow on both the sides of the body and makes you more stable mentally and therefore increases your decision making capacity.


5. Reduces stress.


6. Beneficial in high blood pressure

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Another Way to Get Rid of Stress and Fatigue - Balasana 2(Child Pose 2)

Last post was about Bal Asana which is extremely useful for mental and physical relaxation. This variation of Bal Asana is more popular as this also gives a taste of forward bends without having to stretch the hamstring muscles.

This pose can be practiced after you come back tired from your office or other work so regain the energy and push out the stress. This can also be practiced after a yoga pose to rest as well as feel the effect of the earlier pose.
In this pose the torso lies on the top of the thighs and the total area occupied by the body is very less. The body balance and weight is with the gravity therefore it provides rest. The organs inside the abdomen are pressed which activates them.

How to Practice Balasana 2?

1. Sit in Vajrasana.


2. Place the hands near the heel.


3. With exhalation bend forward and make sure that the torso touches the top of the leg.


4. Try to ensure that the head touches the floor.


5. Loosen the hands and the shoulders and let them drop with the gravity.


6. Stay in this pose for 3 to 5 minutes to get full benefit.


7. Focus on the breathing. This will calm it and make it slower.


8. With exhalation come out of the pose slowly.


9. In case you find it difficult to touch the head to the floor place a blanket or pillow near the knees and place the head on it. If the knees hurt then sit on a folded blanket.

Note : Pregnant ladies and people with lower back pain should not attempt this pose.

Benefits of Bal Asana 2

1. Stress and Fatigue get released and body and mind attains rest and peaceful state.


2. Helps in insomnia


3. Helps in Neck pain condition.

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Relax Like a Baby in Bal Asana (Child Pose) and get relief in Insomnia

Bal Asana (child pose) helps you to relax both physically and mentally and get rid of stress. While practicing this pose, one looks like a happily sleeping baby, hence it is named as child pose. People suffering from insomnia should lie in this pose for 15 - 20 minutes before going to bed.

This pose is also extremely useful for people with back pain and wanting to relax since there is no stress on the back muscles. People with back pain can also include this pose after practicing a series of back bends and then relax in this pose.

Usually people with back pain can find even a simple activity of lying on their back extremely painful. In these cases Balasana can be extremely useful way to relax. In this pose the entire body is on the floor on the abdomen and chest. In the lying position the heart's work load decreases since it does not have to work against the gravity. There is mild stretch to the limbs which relaxes the body and staying long in this pose will gradually slow down the breath. Muscles relax and body can get a very good rest. What I have found is you need to keep changing the position from left side to right side. Doing this increases the relaxation.

Balasana

How to Practice Balasana (Child Pose)?
It is one of the easiest poses to practice.

1. Lie down on the mat on your abdomen.


2. Turn your face to the right side.


3. Now bring right hand in such a position so that forearm is parallel to the body or near the face and the arm is perpendicular to the forearm. Palm should be facing downwards.


4. Now raise your right leg so that thigh is parallel to the arm. Lower leg should be inline with the forearm.


5. Adjust the arms and legs so that you can move to the most comfortable postion.


6. Left arm should be relaxed and stay in natural position near the body.


7. Stay in this pose for as long as it is comfortable.


8. Repeat the same for the other side.

Benefits of Bal Asana (Child Pose)

1. This pose relaxes the body and mind totally and extremely helpful in case of insomnia.


2. Body gets a mild stretch and removes tiredness.


3. Good way to relax after the back bending poses as the back is not stressed.

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Shavasana - Relaxing after a hard day at the office

Do you feel too tired to devote time and energy for your family after a hard day at office? Here is the solution. After you come back, have a nice shower and practice Shavasana for 10 to 15 minutes and you will have more energy for your family.

Shavasana is one of the easiest poses physically. In this pose you would need to lie down on the floor like a corpse. Shav in Sanskrit means a corpse hence this posture is named Shavasana. If done properly, provides rest to the entire body including the various organs, muscles and tissues. This is must after every Yoga Session and sometime between the asansa if they are too strenuous.

How to Practice Shavasana

• Lie on the mat on your back. Close your eyes.


• Make slight adjustments to the distance between the fee and the position of the hands so that you are totally relaxed. You may move the back a little if required so as to come to a position where you will be comfortable and would not need to move for the duration of the practice.


• Take few deep and long breaths especially concentrating on the stomach so as to relax it.


• Now focus on big toe on the right leg and mentally try to relax it. After one or two seconds take the focus to middle finger of the right feet. Similarly take the focus to different parts of the right leg like below the feet, area on the back of the feet, calf, shin, knee, joints etc. for one or two seconds and try to mentally relax that part.


• Once you relax the right leg parts, then visualize that entire right leg is relaxed.


• Then one by one take to focus to left leg, both hands, parts of face, back and entire body parts. Try to do it slowly and repeat it once more.


• When you have completed relaxing all the body parts, focus on your breathing and you will notice that you are totally relaxed.


• Continue as long as you want and then bring the awareness outside your body and slowly come out of the pose

Things to Note

• Imagination play a crucial part in this, as you can imagine that you are taking positive energy from the universe on inhalation and throwing out stress and negative energy, emotion from the body on exhalation. Over the period you will gradually gain expertise in this pose and will be able to relax very easily, even while traveling in a plane or train you can try to relax the body in a sitting posture.


• For proper relaxation spread the mat on top of a blanket as it will give some cushion to the body. Usually the Yoga Mats are not more than 3 to 3.5 feet wide. if the mat is there on a cold floor, you will be aware of the coldness where the hand touches the floor. Putting a blanket or carpet below the mat will eliminate this problem and you will be able to practice the pose in a better manner.


• Select a neat and quite place or room for this practice.

Benefits of Shavasana
Shavasana relaxes the entire body and mind and helps in stress related diseases like high blood pressure, insomnia, depression and increases the healing in case of other diseases. It also gives rest to the entire body after yoga practice.

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Shashank Asana (Hare Pose) - Releiving Tension

Shashank Asana is an asana which is very beneficial for people who get angry easily and for reducing the agitation of the mind. This pose resembles the hare, hence its name. Staying longer in this pose make you introvert, slows down the breath and mind and makes you introvert.

How to Practice Shashank Asana?

1. Sit in Vajrasana.


2. Inhale and raise you hands slowly above your shoulder.


3. Exhale and slowly bend forward and try to place the head on the floor and resting the hands from elbow onwards on the floor.


4. Stay for 20 to 30 breath counts and then come back to original position slowly with exhalation. If practice for around 5 minutes and more it will be more beneficial. While practicing this pose just concentrate on the breathing.


5. Repeat the pose once more.

Those who are unable to touch the head on the floor should use a pillow or something similar on which they can rest their head.

Benefits of Shashank Asana

1. Activates the Adrenal gland and leads to more adrenaline being secreted when done for a longer duration. If done before the asthma starts and done for more than 10 minutes you can avoid the Asthma attack.


2. Calms the mind hence it is good for Epilepsy, migraine, anger management.


3. Massages the abdominal organs.


4. Good for reducing abdomen fat.

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Breath Count - Your Natural Stress Indicator

Number of breaths do you take in a minute indicates your current stress level and mental state. More the number of breaths you take in a minute faster you are breathing which means you are more stress full and lungs are working more. Lesser the breath count, slower is your respiration rate and you are more calm.

Usually we think that few functions or activities of the body like heartbeat are not controlled by us and they take place without conscious control. They are known to be controlled by Autonomic Nervous System. But in reality they are controlled by our subtle will although we are not sensitive enough to realize that. There are lots of yogis who can control the heartbeat count at will and it has been demonstrated to the modern science also. Similarly the breathing also is controlled by our mental state.

There is a great relation between the steadiness of mind and the breathing pattern. More agitated mind means faster breathing and calmer mind means slower breathing rate. So how can we measure our breath count and what is supposed to be proper breath count? Simple rule of the thumb is lesser the count better it is.

How To Measure The Breath Count?
Sit in a place quietly for two three minutes and then take start looking at a clock or watch with seconds hands and decide to measure the breathing for one minute. As soon as seconds hand reaches the 12 O'clock start counting the breaths (one round is inhalation + exhalation) on your fingers. As soon as one minute is complete then record the number of breaths. If your count is 8 or less then you are in ideal state and very less stressed. If the count is between 9 and 15 it is normal breath count of an average person. If the breath count is 16 or above then you are stressed out. For more accurate reading it is advisable to note the reading for several days and during different times of the days and take the average. Another way is to take the measurement for 3 to 4 minutes and then average it out to one minute. This will provide you more accurate reading as compared to the reading taken only for a minute. Higher breath count readings on regular basis, especially 20 or more indicates higher probability of high blood pressure or other diseases. Therefore you should get your blood pressure checked.

Suppose your breath count is 15, that means that as compare to a very calm person you are breathing 5 times more a minute. So in 1 hour you are breathing 300 times more and in 10 hours 3000 times more. If that is your regular breathing pattern you are taking 26,38,000 breaths more in a year. You can imagine the extra work you lungs are doing.

How to reduce the Breath count?

1. Key to reducing the breath count is a relaxed state of mind. I have written two posts for relaxing. They teach you how to relax consciously. Practicing the relaxation techniques regularly will over time reduce you respiration rate.
   Here are the links.
   
   Yoga For Conscious Relaxation
   Relaxing Consciously Through Yoga – Part II


2. Watch your breath. This is again a good technique as watching your breath on regular basis reduces slows the breathing. This can also be done in office or while traveling.


3. Practice deep breathing every now and then. You might have read in all anger management articles that this is very effective technique.

Follow these techniques and see the difference in your stress levels. What is you breath count?

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Bhramri Pranayama

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Bhramri Pranayama - Get Rid of Nervous Tension

Bhramri Pranayama is one of the easiest Pranayama to perform and is very beneficial for curing stress and nervous tension. Bhramri means humming sound of bee or wasp. While practicing this humming sound is produced, hence this pranayama is known as Bhramari Pranayama. Usually it is performed at the end of the yoga session.

How to Practice Bhramri Pranayama

Technique to practice Bhramri Pranayama is very simple and even children can learn it very easily.

1. Sit in any asana where in you spine is straight, like Padmasana, Ardh Padmasana, Vajrasana etc.


2. Using both hands close ears with thumbs, put the index fingers on forehead, middle fingers are placed gently on the closed eyes making sure not to press them. Rest remaining two fingers on base of nose nearer to the eyes.


3. Breathe in slowly and to your full capacity.


4. Concentrate your mind on Ajna Chakra (between eye-brows) and try to imagine a ball of light, or any spiritual symbol, or any god/goddess whom you worship. Close your mouth. Start making humming sound of a bee from the throat. Do not make any conscious effort to exhale, just concentrate on the humming sound. This way you will automatically lengthen the exhalation.
   
   You should be able to feel the vibrations in the upper organs. Try to adjust the thumb in the ear to a position wherein the vibrations are maximum when you are humming.


5. Once exhalation is complete, again inhale deeply and follow step 4. Repeat the exercise upto 7 times and then gradually increase to 11 and then to 21 times according to your capacity.


6. After you finish the desired number of rounds sit quietly while hands are placed on your knees. You will experience that the vibrations lasts for minutes after the pranayama is completed and you can feel the bliss.


7. After few minutes of sitting quietly, perform palming by rubbing you palms vigorously and heating them up. Them cup the eyes with palms placed gently on your eyes, taking care not to press the eyes.

Benefits of Bhramri Pranayama

1. This pranayama energizes the region above the neck, including eyes, ears, throat etc. But the most beneficial effect is on the brain as the stress is released. Putting the fingers on the forehead increase the awareness and helps us to concentrate on the effects of the pranayama. The energy flows from our fingers on to the sense organs like nose, ears, eyes and soothes them.


2. This pranayama calms down the nerves and has a extremely sooting affect. It also give the practitioner the taste of meditation, as the effect is quite similar to that.


3. This is also beneficial in Hypertension and increases confidence.


4. If children practice this pranayama regularly it helps them in studies by increasing their memory and concentration power.


5. This pranayama also increases the vital capacity of the lungs and helps practice deep breathing.

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