Lessons on the Lungs from COVID-19: Benefits of Proning
In therapeutic yoga, we often talk about modifying the practice for the seasons, but the year 2020 has tossed a whole new set of considerations into the mix. While watching winter change to spring, and spring to summer, we’ve been forced to reckon with a global respiratory health crisis, and us yoga therapists now have an opportunity to study and teach in support of the respiratory system.
When we think of breath in the yoga practice, we typically go right to pranayama and the practice of manipulating the breath, either by focusing on the rhythm of the inhales and exhales during a flow yoga class, or as a standalone practice, often done seated. But what we are seeing with the treatment of COVID-19 is how our physical posturing can have an impact on how we breathe and the functioning of our lungs.
Prone postures that aim the belly down and open up access to the back body – where the lungs reside -- can be incredibly nourishing, in addition to beneficial for breathing. When working with clients with respiratory issues – whether recovering from COVID-19, those with a history of smoking, or even someone battling a nasty winter cold, here are some postures you can bring them into to recruit the lungs:
Child’s pose – This can be done with a blanket between the thighs and the belly to increase the dome-like shape of the back, opening up more space for the lungs to expand.
Paschimottanasana – Rather than working to lengthen the spine and move the collarbones toward the feet, it's alright to let the spine round in this variation to maximize the posture’s benefits for the lungs.
Rabbit pose – If it is appropriate for the client to put pressure on the head and neck, lifting the hips away from the heels and rolling to the crown of the head can relieve pressure on the lungs.
Restorative twist – With the knees bent to one side, create a prone, restorative twist by lying the belly and chest on the mat, then turning the head toward or away from the knees. This is a good way to incorporate twists without compressing the lungs.
Supta savasana – Taking savasana on the belly is not only a way to release pressure on the lungs in a prone position, but it can be very comforting for clients suffering from anxiety as well.
As the COVID-19 pandemic marches on, it is teaching us complementary practitioners new techniques for working with breath – not just as a pranayama practice to support general healing, but to specifically target respiratory illness and recovery. Learning what we have from the medical field and its emphasis on putting critically ill COVID-19 patients on their bellies, we can prescribe prone asanas to optimize lung function.
Hannah Slocum Darcy is a yoga teacher and a student at Prema Yoga Institute. She specializes in accessibility and adaptive practice for many life stages and scenarios.
Feeling Anxious? How to Breathe your Way to Calm
In these challenging times, when anxiety can seem to hit us like a wave, it can be difficult to know where to turn for relief. The options for relief can feel overwhelming, expensive, unavailable or time-consuming. But of the most accessible and effective ways to bring calm is already within us – our breath.
Each of us takes as many as 30,000 breaths in a single day. Most of those breaths go unnoticed, but in fact, they can be a key tool to optimizing our health and wellbeing. As one of the eight limbs of yoga, breath work, or pranayama, is itself a practice just like asana or meditation, and it can take different forms – from simply breathing deeply into the belly, to more advanced manipulations of the breath. Each pranayama practice serves a purpose – whether to calm anger, bring in more energy, or reduce anxiety.
In these challenging times, when anxiety can seem to hit us like a wave, it can be difficult to know where to turn for relief. The options for relief can feel overwhelming, expensive, unavailable or time-consuming. But of the most accessible and effective ways to bring calm is already within us – our breath.
Each of us takes as many as 30,000 breaths in a single day. Most of those breaths go unnoticed, but in fact, they can be a key tool to optimizing our health and wellbeing. As one of the eight limbs of yoga, breath work, or pranayama, is itself a practice just like asana or meditation, and it can take different forms – from simply breathing deeply into the belly, to more advanced manipulations of the breath. Each pranayama practice serves a purpose – whether to calm anger, bring in more energy, or reduce anxiety.
So how does it work? Breath is tied to the nervous system. When we inhale, we activate the sympathetic nervous system, or the ”flight or fight” response. Think about when you are startled by a noise outside your home at night, and gasp. When we exhale, the parasympathetic nervous system is activated, enabling us to calm and enable healing. Think about the deep sigh of relief when you realize that what startled you is just the wind.
To function optimally on a daily basis, we need both aspects of the nervous system to operate in tandem to keep us safe and well. However, when anxiety is high, we need to focus more on turning on the parasympathetic nervous system and eliciting a relaxation response to bring balance.
Here are some pranayama exercises you can try to help bring calm when anxiety is high.
1:2 Ratio Breath – Perhaps the most straightforward way to use the breath to trigger the relaxation response is to emphasize the relaxing aspect of the breath as described above – the exhale. If you feel yourself getting anxious, but don’t have the space or time to sit down for a more involved pranayama practice, you can easily welcome in calm simply by extending your exhales longer than your inhales.
For several breath cycles, try inhaling deep into the belly for a count of four, and exhaling fully for a count of eight. You can do this for as long and as often as you need to help bring a sense of calm.
Nadi shodhana – This breath, also referred to as alternate nostril breathing, works to balance the subtle energetic channels of the body – the ida and the pingala, which intertwine and spiral as they move up through the central channel of the body, representing the opposing forces of light and dark, night and day, energy and rest. Just like with the inhales and exhales, we seek to bring these two forces into balance for optimal wellbeing.
To practice nadi shodhana, bring the second and third fingers of your right hand to rest at your third eye center. Rest the right thumb on the right side of the nose, and the right fourth finger on the left side of your nose, tucking the right pinky finger in. Exhale all the air out the nose. Press your thumb against your nose, blocking the right nostril, as you inhale through the left nostril. Hold at the top of the inhale, then release the right nostril and block the left for the exhale. Hold at the bottom of the exhale. Keep the left nostril blocked as you inhale through the right, hold, then switch and exhale through the left nostril. Repeat for several minutes.
Sitali – Sitali, or the cooling breath, can help pacify some of the fiery pitta energy that largely corresponds to the sympathetic nervous system being switched on. Practice this and see if you feel more of a sense of cooling and calm.
To begin, roll your tongue and bring it just outside of your lips, so it creates a kind of straw. If you cannot roll your tongue, bring it the roof of your mouth, where your palate meets the back of your front teeth. Inhale through the “straw”, drawing the air in through the mouth, and exhale the same way. Practice this for several minutes.
Healing Breath – This is a more advanced practice for which you’ll need a partner. One of you will take the seat of the healer, and the other, the seat of the receiver. The receiver should lie in a comfortable position to enable relaxation, while the healer sits next to them, as still as possible, maintaining a neutral mind. The healer will then gently rest their second and third fingers gently on the receiver, and mirror their breathing. Stay like this for up to 10 minutes.
This can help the receiver feel connected and supported. If the receiver works to breathe through the left nostril only, and the healer through the right nostril only, the two sides are balanced and healing can take place.
The ability to simply notice the breath and be more intentional about how it nourishes you is a hugely important step in calming your mind and body. Taking that a step further and implementing these pranayama practices can be transformative in helping manage during these anxiety-ridden times. Try them for yourself next time you feel overwhelmed or worried.
Interested in PYI's COVID19 response initiative - including breath exercises to prevent and manage the disease? Please join our mailing list today.
LINKS:
Calm with Yoga – Pranayama for Anxiety: The Ancient Drug-Free Solution
Kripalu – A LifeForce Yoga Breating Practice to Ease Anxiety and Depression
——————————————————————————————————-
Hannah Slocum Darcy is a yoga teacher and a student at Prema Yoga Institute. She specializes in accessibility and adaptive practice for many life stages and scenarios.