Pranayama Hot Yoga

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During a hot yoga class, many aspects come together in order for practitioners to experience health benefits. There's the heated room, allowing muscles to stretch further than usual, the poses which compress and extend muscles, and the dedication of the participants to hold each pose to increase their strength and flexibility. But a potentially overlooked aspect of hot yoga is breathing. During each session there are "pranayama" exercises, meaning "breathing techniques". During the day people tend to ignore their breathing and only use their lungs at a partial capacity. This can lead to low amounts of energy and irritability, but thankfully hot yoga allows people to focus on breathing to restore the oxygen in their bodies and attain a more peaceful state of mind. …show more content…

It allows them to expand the capacity of their lungs which allows more oxygen to be sent throughout the body so it can function. Pranayama also reduces the toxins in the body and aids in digestion, as with proper practice one's health and metabolism will improve. Pranayama is also a mental exercise, in which people can gain better self control. One's concentration will be sharpened so that you can relax yourself during otherwise stressful situations, and calmly choose your reactions. Two of the types of pranayama used in hot yoga are the 80-20 breath and the exhalation breath. During the 80-20 breath practitioners should raise their ribs as they take in air, expanding the abdominal muscles as if they were about to hold their breath. The upper 20% of the air should then be exhaled and inhaled again. This breathing exercise is good for poses where back-bends are involved or in standing poses, as it helps with energy and

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