A common question, often asked by students beginning yoga is, how should I breathe when I practice. First simply keep breathing. Try not to hold your breath during a pose or while moving between them and generally, when you expand your body, like raising your arms overhead, you inhale and when you contract like folding forward you exhale. Breath steadily through your nose and hold a posture for about six to eight breathes or around thirty seconds. Also during more intense postures or for those poses you hold for a longer time. Consciously breathe into the area of your body that you feel the most. This attention will help you soften that area. It will improve your circulation and stamina and increase your sensitivity when practicing.
Yoga in Practice, led by master instructor Stacey Millner-Collins, is designed to teach the foundations of yoga to the at-home student, and to encourage a daily yoga practice that is more than simply physical exercise. To purchase DVD episodes of Yoga in Practice, visit ShopSCETV.