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  • Sacred Activism by Swami Veda Bharati
  • Action and Inaction by Swami Rama
  • 8 Qualities of Yogic Breathing by Michael Smith
  • 2020 Navaratri Silence Retreat in Taiwan by Francine Kuo (Sujata)
  • I am. by Rachna Arora
  • A Little Ditty by Veena Haasl-Blilie
  • Dear Yoga Mentor, My Question Is
  • 2020 Events and Beyond
  • Full Moon Meditation Dates
  • Location of our SRSG ashram
• AHYMSIN Newsletter Archive

8 Qualities of Yogic Breathing

by Michael Smith

These “8 Qualities of Yogic Breathing” are sequenced according to the progression in which they are generally taught in Himalayan Yoga Tradition (HYT) classes:

1. Diaphragmatic
2. Nasal
3. Silent
4. Smooth
5. Relaxed
6. Deep/Slow
7. Continuous
8. Even

For example, HYT teachers usually begin breathing instruction with students lying in Makarasana (Crocodile) or Shavasana (Corpse), and then they guide a relaxation, drawing students' attention to finer aspects of breathing. As students make progress, yet finer aspects of breathing are taught in relation to meditation (#6 – #8 below). There is some unavoidable overlapping, but these eight qualities stand out.

There are many resources (retreat handouts, books, articles, audios, and web sites) that will be used throughout this program to assist HYT-TTP students in both perfecting their own yogic breathing and in teaching yogic breathing to their students.

The following description is intended to support students by providing a single definitive summary of the most important aspects of yogic breathing:

1. Diaphragmatic – a relaxed, full breath, indicated by the area around the navel and midsection (front, sides and back) expanding and contracting gently with each inhalation and exhalation. When Swami Rama was teaching in the USA, the acronym “DDB” (Deep Diaphragmatic Breathing) was used by the teachers to describe this kind of breathing. The four things that Swami Rama emphasized were that the breath be soundless (“no noise”), smooth (“not jerky”), deep (“not shallow”), and continuous (“with no pauses”).

2. Nasal – through the nostrils.

3. Silent – quiet, soundless, with no noise.

4. Smooth – flowing like oil, with no jerks or irregularities in the breath stream.

5. Relaxed – there is no strain or tension to one’s breathing. There is a spontaneously comfortable, gentle, open, free, “natural” quality to the breathing, like the breathing of a sleeping child.

6. Deep/Slow – a comfortable, long, drawn-out breath has a longer duration (or slower breath-rate) and implies a larger tidal volume (the volume of air moved into and out of the lungs during relaxed breathing, typically about a half of a liter for adult males).1

7. Continuous – constant, seamless, with minimal pauses or breaks between the inhalations and exhalations. Special care is needed to relax unnecessary tension at the end of inhalations and exhalations, and to allow the breath stream to gently curve around (like a circle, an ellipse, or a circle-8) and merge with the next breath – exhalations smoothly flowing into inhalations and inhalations smoothly flowing into exhalations.

8. Even – The term “even” has been used by Swami Veda in three ways:
1. the inhalations and exhalations have the same duration (1:1),
2. the pressure and volume of air flowing in each breath remains the same for the majority of the inhalation or exhalation. (Special care is taken to try to keep the mind, breath and body relaxed during the inhalations.)
3. the flow of air in the left and right nostrils is balanced, so that ida and pingala nadis are aligned and the harmonized energies contribute to sushumna opening and meditation.

1) In the animal kingdom, there is a great difference in the breath-rate of animals, generally parallel to their size and life-expectancy. These numbers are rough approximations in terms of breath-rate and lifespan:

Average Breath-Rate (Breath/Minute) Average Lifespan in Years
Giant Tortoises      4                                                          200
Elephants                8                                                          65
Horses                     14                                                        30
Humans                  15-20                                                  71
Cats and Dogs        25                                                        16
Mice                        130                                                      2

One breath is defined as one exhalation and one inhalation. In yoga it is believed that a person’s longevity is measured in the number of breaths one takes; therefore, a person’s lifespan could be lengthened by breathing slower. Slow breathing is cultivated by paying attention to one’s breathing. Assuming that an average person breathes 15 times in one minute (21,600 times a day), after practicing meditation for a year or so, the breath rate might slow down to less than 5 times a minute. During one of Swami Veda’s lectures, his breath rate was checked, and he took one breath in two minutes time.

Editor’s Note:

Recommended reading: Science of Breath:  A Practical Guide by Swami Rama, Dr. Rudolph Ballentine, Dr. Alan Hymes

Michael Smith, E-RYT 500, has been teaching yoga for over 36 years and is currently a curriculum coordinator for the Himalayan Yoga Tradition – Teacher Training Program (HYT-TTP). He has also been certified by the Himalayan Institute Teachers Association and the Behram Guard School of Yoga Meditation (an Iyengar-based Hatha Yoga School). He was a public school teacher for 35 years and also a professor of Comparative Religion at North Hennepin Community College. He has edited and/or illustrated many books on yoga and has lectured widely on stress management (the topic of his Master’s Thesis) and also on holistic health.