Phase 3 · Breathing When You Need It

Part of the 12 Week Breathing and Yoga Program for COPD

15 Minute Yoga Sequence for Breathing Under Exertion

The last three weeks and the one to keep. Short, mostly upright, and built around using the breathing rather than practising it.

The point of the last three weeks is that the breathing turns up on its own when you need it. On the stairs, carrying shopping, walking up a slope. This session rehearses exactly that: it sets the pattern for three minutes, then puts you on your feet and asks you to keep it while you move. It is also the session worth keeping once the twelve weeks are over.

15 min · Level 1

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When it helps

For weeks ten to twelve, and afterwards two or three times a week. Fifteen minutes. A wall, a chair and a blanket. This sits alongside your medical care and any pulmonary rehabilitation, not instead of either. Stop and rest if you get short of breath at rest, dizzy or tight in the chest.

Breath

Pursed lip breathing, held on to while standing and moving. That is the whole exercise.

Physical effect

Standing, reaching overhead and opening the chest, all in small doses.

Transfer

The pattern that only exists on a cushion is not going to be there on a hill. This is where it gets moved.

Set the pattern

Three minutes seated, so it is running before you stand up.

Sukhasana

3 min

Easy Pose

Belly breathing for one minute, then two of pursed lip breathing.

Shorter than in the earlier phases, because by now it comes back quickly.

Learn more about Sukhasana

Keep it while you move

Everything from here is upright. Slow down whenever the pattern disappears, which is the only instruction that matters.

Tadasana

2 min

Mountain Pose

Stand near a wall, feet hip width. Pursed lip breathing, standing. Then take four slow steps forward and four back, breathing out through pursed lips as you step.

Breathing out on the effort is the actual skill. Four steps is enough to practise it.

Learn more about Tadasana

Parshva Tadasana

45 sec each side

Mountain Pose with Side Bend

Arm overhead, gentle lean. Keep the out breath long.

A small extra demand while the breathing has to hold.

Learn more about Parshva Tadasana

Urdhva Hastasana

45 sec

Upward Salute

Both arms overhead, ribs lifting away from the hips. Breathe out as the arms come down.

Reaching overhead makes breathing harder for most people with COPD. Doing it deliberately, slowly, with a long exhale, is how that gets easier.

Learn more about Urdhva Hastasana

Down and open

Back to the floor for the last five minutes.

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

45 sec, twice

Bridge Pose

A small hip lift, propped as needed.

The chest opens once more before the end, in the easiest position there is.

Learn more about Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

Savasana

4 min

Corpse Pose

Flat or propped up. Let the breath run itself and see whether the pattern is still there.

If it is still there when you stop instructing it, the twelve weeks have done their job.

Learn more about Savasana

Phase 3 · Weeks 10 to 12

This practice is part of a program

It belongs to Breathing When You Need It, the third phase of the 12 Week Breathing and Yoga Program for COPD. 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 for weeks ten to twelve, then two or three times a week for as long as you like. Between sessions, try pursed lip breathing on the stairs. That is the skill this program was building.

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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