Breath Of Fire in Kundalini Yoga
Bridge: Pose the following question:
Have you ever felt fatigued, exhausted/groggy and wished you could pick up your energy level without the help of a cup of coffee, other kind of stimulant, props, etc?
Well, I am happy to say "there is a way!" :-)
Teaching Objectives:
- Arouse students' curiosity and interest in the concept of mindful and conscious breathing
o Often-times we don't pay attention to how we breathe
o Breathing becomes a task that we do unconsciously - in the background
o Its normally shallow and slow
o We become aware of it only at times of nervousness, high level of anxiety, or when participating in a physically
demanding activity, i.e. running
o There are different breathing techniques that can be used to lower or increase body temperature,
to detoxify the body, to increase energy flow, to relax and slow the mind into a meditative state
- Introduce Kundalini yoga and breath of fire
o Kundalini yoga is a physical and meditative discipline within the tradition of yoga
o It is a subdivision of hatha yoga, more popular style of yoga
o Kundalini yoga helps in moving prana (life force)
o It targets the immune, nervous, glandular, and digestive systems
o Breathing (paranayama) is a major component of Kundalini yoga
o Breath of fire is one breathing techniques in yoga
- Mentiona some of the benefits of breath of fire
o Helps in detoxification and removal of waste by oxygenating blood quickly
o Builds lung capacity and helps purify the respiratory system
o Generates heat and increases level of energy by activating the energy flows in the body
Learning Objectives:
- Students will know the basic definition of Kundalini Yoga and the subsystems it benefits
- Students will find out about the benefits of breath of fire
- Students will be able to demonstrate breath of fire
Pretest:
- Have any of you done yoga? How about Kundalini Yoga?
- Do you know about breath of fire?
Participatory Activity:
- Demonstrate practing breath of fire and aks the students to observe
o Sit up in a comfortable position (easy/cross legged pose)
o Elongate the spine upwards, lengthen the neck and subtly bring the chin back
This will align the spine with the back of the head
o Close your eyes
o Rest your hands in a comfortable position on the knees
o Relax your chest and stomach (diaphragm) muscles
o Now begin to breathe rapidly through the nose with equal emphasis on the inhalation and exhalation
Keep the breath shallow, just at the tip of the nose
Proceed at a comfortable pace and establish a steady rhythm
The stomach will pulse on its own in rhythm to the breath
Continue for 1 minute
o That is it!
- Lead the students to do breath of fire as a group
Post Test: Ask the students:
- What is Kundalini yoga? What subsystems does it work on?
- What are some of the benefits of breath of fire?
- Can you demonstrate breath of fire?
Summary:
- In this class you have:
o been introduced to Kundalini yoga and different breathing techniques in kundalini yoga
o learned about the benefits of the breath of fire technique
o learned how to correctly execute breath of fire and when
-Next class:
o We will learn about Four-part Deep Breathing, another breathing technique in Kundalini yoga: its benefits and how
to execute it
