The breath of joy gets your energy flowing, wakes your entire system and will help you start your day off in a wonderful way!
How to do it:
You just need to take 3 minutes every day to do this practice. Set your intention for this breath of joy to wake up your entire system.
Please note – This is not recommended if you have high blood pressure or eye problems such as glaucoma or an eye injury.
3-part breath in
- Place your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent. Inhale and fill up one-third of the lungs, (imagine that you’re just filling up the bottom part) while swinging the arms up in front of you, shoulder height, palms facing up. (Then bring arms back down)
- Inhale again (same inhalation), imagining that you’re filling up two-thirds of your lung capacity, while swinging the arms to the sides, shoulder height. (Then bring arms back down)
- Inhale filling up to full capacity while swinging the arms parallel along the front all the way up, over the head, palms facing each other.
One big exhale out
One big exhale to the sound of ha, bending the knees deeply, hinging from the hips as you allow yourself to bend forward swinging your arms down and along the sides up behind you
These 3 steps (quick inhalations) need to be done rather quickly in a row. Repeat them as many times as feels appropriate up to nine times You can also do this seated in a chair if preferred.
Things to take note of when doing the Breath of Joy:
If you become light-headed, slow down the rhythm or take a break. As soon as the sequence becomes familiar, allow yourself to get lost in the rhythm of the Breath of Joy sequence. One day the rhythm will be there, another it’s a little harder work. Don’t get discouraged. Increasing the flow of energy is a wonderful way to energise your system and it’s great to start the day off by doing something positive for yourself.
Try it for a few days and let me know what it does for you.
Love,
Esther
More like this on EkhartYoga
For more mini breathwork exercises try my 5 minute breathing exercises program – or for longer classes follow our 10 Days of Pranayama program
Updated July 2021
