Phase 2 · The Named Techniques

Part of the 8 Week Yoga Program for Breathing With Asthma

30 Minute Yoga Sequence for Pranayama and Chest Opening

Weeks four to six, where the named breathing techniques come in. This is the part the research is most specific about.

One study went through the breathing techniques one at a time instead of treating them as a block: deep breathing, alternate nostril breathing, humming bee breath and a long toned exhalation. Over twelve weeks, coughing dropped from 73 percent of participants to 12, wheezing from 76 to 8, breathlessness from 73 to 10. The authors concluded that it was mainly the expiratory techniques doing the work. Those are the ones in this session, and they get the first twelve minutes rather than a footnote at the end.

30 min · Level 1

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When it helps

For weeks four to six, once the diaphragmatic pattern from phase one no longer takes concentration. Thirty minutes. A cushion to sit on, a blanket, and your inhaler in reach. This is an addition to your asthma treatment, never a replacement for it. If the breath tightens during any of this, stop and use your reliever inhaler.

Breath

Alternate nostril breathing, humming bee breath and a long toned exhalation. Three techniques, each with a job, all built around the out breath.

Physical effect

Side ribs, the front of the chest and the upper back, in seated and kneeling positions that keep the breath available throughout.

Self-regulation

By the end of this phase most people can change their own breathing pattern deliberately. That is a useful thing to own.

The breathing, first and longest

Twelve minutes of seated breathing before any pose. In this condition the breath is the treatment and the poses support it, so it goes first while you are fresh.

Sukhasana

12 min

Easy Pose

Four minutes of alternate nostril breathing, thumb and ring finger closing one side at a time, out breath longer than in. Then four minutes of humming bee breath: breathe in through the nose, then hum the whole way out. Then four minutes of a long toned exhalation, any low steady sound, until the lungs are properly empty.

These are the three named techniques from the study that separated them out. All three work the same lever, which is a slow controlled exhalation, and each one gives you a different way to feel it.

Learn more about Sukhasana

Dandasana

1 min

Staff Pose

Legs long, sitting tall, ordinary breathing again.

A minute of nothing between the breathing work and the movement.

Learn more about Dandasana

Make room in the ribs

Three seated positions that reach the parts of the ribcage that normal breathing never asks for.

Parsva Sukhasana

1 min each side

Seated Side Bend

Cross legged, one hand down, the other arm reaching over. Breathe into the stretched side and feel the ribs open there.

The side ribs are where you can feel expansion most clearly, and they are the least used direction in a shallow breathing pattern.

Learn more about Parsva Sukhasana

Parivrtta Sukhasana

1 min each side

Revolved Easy Pose

A seated twist, turning from the ribs rather than the shoulders. Breathe in to lengthen, out to turn a little further.

A twist moves the ribs against each other, which is a direction of movement they lose easily.

Learn more about Parivrtta Sukhasana

Gomukhasana

45 sec each side

Cow Face Pose

Cow Face arms only, one arm up and one behind, a strap between the hands if they do not meet. Legs however you like.

The front of the shoulder pulls the chest closed over the years. This opens it from an angle nothing else here reaches.

Learn more about Gomukhasana

Open the front

Three back bends, thirty seconds each, breath moving the whole time. Never hold your breath in any of them.

Ustrasana

30 sec, twice

Camel Pose

Kneeling, hands on the lower back or on the heels. Go only as far as the breath stays even.

The biggest chest opening in the program, and the fastest way to feel how much room the front of the ribs actually has.

Learn more about Ustrasana

Bhujangasana

30 sec, twice

High Cobra Pose

Face down, hands under the shoulders, lifting only as far as the breath allows.

The same direction with the floor taking the weight, which makes it easier to keep breathing well.

Learn more about Bhujangasana

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

45 sec, twice

Bridge Pose

On your back, hips lifted, breathing into the front of the chest.

The chest at its widest with nothing to hold up. The best position in the session for a full breath.

Learn more about Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

Matsyasana

1 min

Fish Pose

Supported, with a folded blanket lengthways under the spine and the head resting.

Held longer than the others because it costs nothing to stay in.

Learn more about Matsyasana

Let it settle

Seven minutes at the end. That is the proportion the protocol used.

Viparita Karani

3 min

Legs Up the Wall

Legs up the wall, long out breath, no counting unless you want it.

A long quiet ending is part of every protocol behind this program, not a nice extra.

Learn more about Viparita Karani

Savasana

4 min

Corpse Pose

Flat, still, watching the breath rather than steering it.

Four minutes to find out what the breathing does when you stop instructing it.

Learn more about Savasana

Phase 2 · Weeks 4 to 6

This practice is part of a program

It belongs to The Named Techniques, the second phase of the 8 Week Yoga Program for Breathing With Asthma. The program says how often to practise it, what comes before and after, and when to move on.

See the whole program →

Integration

Three times a week through weeks four to six, with the ten minute sequence on other days. If any technique makes the chest feel tighter rather than easier, drop it and stay with the simple long exhalation. That is the one carrying most of the effect anyway.

The teacher behind this sequence

Gründer & Autor

Manish Rana

Gründer von Asanaverse.de. Manish schreibt über Yoga, Ayurveda und Meditation und verdankt seine tiefe Verbindung zum Yoga seinen indischen Wurzeln. Mit über 1000 Stunden Yoga Alliance Teacher Training gibt er sein Wissen an die Community weiter.

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Go deeper into the poses

Every asana in this practice has a page of its own. You will find alignment cues, what the shape actually works on, and the energetics behind it.

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