Tias Little – Pranayama 101

Tias Little – Pranayama 101

Check it out: Tias Little – Pranayama 101

In this 6-week pranayama online course, Tias Little, founder of Prajna Yoga and author of Yoga of the Subtle Body, will help you establish a mindful-breathing practice and teach you a variety of powerful breath-manipulation techniques. You’ll learn how to develop basic breath awareness and get simple tools to help you calm your nervous system on command and open energy pathways for the flow of vital prana (life force). Use this course to experiment with different types of natural and controlled breathing and to tap the inherent potency of each inhale and exhale.

Ever take a deep breath during a stressful moment? It probably helped you feel a little better—or maybe a lot better. Research shows that focusing on your breath is one of the most important things you can do to induce a relaxation response and improve health and mood. The breath also plays a key role in yoga practice and philosophy. Pranayama is refinement of the flow of breath and it’s the fourth of Patanjali’s eight limbs of yoga. It follows asana and is the gateway to the meditative limbs.

Who this online course is for:

Our Pranayama 101 online course is for new and experienced yoga students and teachers alike. You’ll learn breathing techniques that can be utilized when practicing yoga postures or in meditation. If you’re a yoga teacher, you’ll discover effective ways to introduce these techniques to students. Tias will help you learn how to cultivate deep relaxation and serenity in your mind-body connection. Consider this your guide to better energy flow for physical, psychological, and spiritual wellness.

This 6-week course includes:

• Strategies to help you be more mindful of your breath
• Postural sequences to prepare for pranayama
• Tips for how to support your spine, ribs, and lungs in preparation for pranayama
• An exploration of more than six breathing techniques to help you deepen your yoga practice and connect to the vital source of energy inside
• Guided Savasana that restores and enlivens the subtle body

Each week you’ll get:

• An introduction to the theme of the week and the benefits of the breathing technique
• An asana practice to help you prepare for breathwork (approximately 15 minutes)
• A mindful breathing or pranayama practice (approximately 40 minutes)
• Homework or meditation practices to help you reflect on what you’ve learned

Curriculum:

Week 1: Introduction to Mindful Breathing and Pranayama

• Get an introduction to prana in yoga practice
• Study the anatomy of breathing and how the diaphragm acts as a prana pump
• Try a guided practice of inner listening and explore how breathing in asana segues into breath regulation in pranayama
• Discover depth, dimension, and duration of breath
• Practice mindful breathing and observe your “breath print” to bring a sense of tranquility and ease to your respiratory rhythm

Week 2: Posture for Pranayama

• Learn the importance of seated posture and how to avoid strain
• Practice a sequence of postures to strengthen your spine and open your lungs for sitting
• Get detail on how to align and balance your trunk and cranium for seated pranayama
• Use props to enable greater expansion of your ribs and lungs

Week 3: Nasal Breathing

• Get an introduction to nasal breathing and its importance in different contexts
• Cultivate mindfulness for how the flow of your breath touches your throat and nostrils
• Practice Ujjayi Pranayama (Victorious Breath) and Sama Vritti (Equal Duration Breath)
• Create a balanced flow of your inhalation and exhalation

Week 4: Breath Retention

• Learn how to safely tier your breath and break it into parts
• Practice Kumbhaka Pranayama (Breath Retention)
• Try seated and supine versions of Viloma I (Interrupted or Interval Breath)
• Work with your breath as if it’s an instrument

Week 5: Alternate-Nostril Breathing

• Learn about the active and passive channels (sun and moon) and their connection to your nostrils
• Try an asana practice to ease tension in your shoulders or upper back
• Practice Nadi Shodhana Pranayama (Alternate-Nostril Breathing)
• Learn to sensitize your fingers when manipulating the flow of breath through your nostrils
• Find balance between the “solar” and “lunar” pathways through your right and left nostril respectively

Week 6: Centering 

• Learn to allow prana to settle and practice insight meditation (vipassana) on the rhythm of your breath
• Try an asana practice to help you let go of conscious control over your breath after pranayama
• Explore deep restoration and prana awareness, returning to the source of your own vital energy
• Practice a deep Savasana that involves letting go of all muscular holding, softening your senses, and merging with the infinite inside