You may have noticed my slight obsession with the exhale. I’ve come to consider the exhale to be the lynch pin of all yoga. It’s like the calm before the storm, the moments of preparation before the performance. It’s the groundwork that enables you to launch a project or deliver a speech; A cleared space ready for the new.
About the exhale:
- A complete exhale assists the body to fully expel apana (old stuff, toxins, carbon dioxide) from the lungs. As we exhale, the diaphragm rises, putting pressure on the lower lungs to expel air, ridding the body of old apana settled on the bottom of the lungs.
- The exhale connects you to your navel centre. Through the action of the exhale, the navel point draws back towards the spine and we activate our navel centre. A strong navel means a strong sense of self – it is the centre of our being in physical form. If we shallow breathe there is very little action in the navel, the navel centre remains placid, inactive. Shallow breathing = uncertainty, uncentred.
- We exhale apana to make room for prana. To fully exhale makes space for a full inhale. An incomplete exhale is like over-committing in life; We continue to fill fill fill. We just keep adding. The exhale represents a letting go, an acceptance of impermanence. The inbetween space. The unknown. Opportunity.
- Skimping on the exhale can make you feel hurried, it creates that mental state of wanting more. If we complete the exhale it keeps us grounded in the here and now; Honouring each action as complete, each moment as perfect.