Yoga Poses to Help Boost Your Lung Health

What’s Inside?

• Why is lung health important, and how yoga can help
• Yoga poses to help boost your lung health
• Want to see how else yoga can help improve your wellness? Hith Yoga has you covered!

Breathing Well – How Yoga Can Help Lung Health

Healthy lungs are central to the proper functioning of the body. The respiratory system ensures that the body receives adequate supply of oxygen, and helps in removing wastes in the form of carbon dioxide. When lungs do not function at their capacity,it adversely impacts our quality of life and our ability to engage in everyday activities.

The global coronavirus pandemic, which produces acute respiratory problems, has further highlighted the importance of having a good respiratory system, as a vulnerable one can easily be impacted by such illnesses.  Indeed, building a healthy respiratory system can contribute to immunity very significantly. 

Few exercises incorporate breathing into practice the way yoga training does. While western exercises do focus on breathing, importance is given more to using it to maintain proper form and keeping the core engaged. Yoga training on the other hand recognizes that breathing is a central part of exercising, and thus incorporates breathing exercises into yoga poses, while also giving a number of Pranayama practices to help improve lung capacity. How does yoga training  help in improving lung capacity? Here are a few ways – 

• Firstly, yoga tells us about the proper way of breathing. Yes, it may seem a slightly silly idea, but practicing proper breathing techniques known as yoga breathing, ones that engage your entire respiratory system properly, can help significantly improve the quality of your breathing, and thus your health.
• Regular yoga training and breathing exercises improve the mobility and flexibility of your chest and your respiratory organs, thus allowing more room and comfort for breathing.
• Yoga also fosters breath awareness, which can be particularly useful in times of stress or illness, when breathing often becomes compromised. By noticing the subtle signs of your body that you may otherwise miss out on, thus helping you correct your breathing patterns through observation and modification.

Hence, a regular practice of yoga poses and breathing exercises can vastly improve your lung health, while providing you with numerous other benefits such as strength, flexibility, control over chronic illnesses, and much more.

Yoga Poses And Breathing Exercises To Strengthen The Lungs – 

If boosting lung capacity is on the agenda, here are some yoga poses you should try out – 

• Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose) – This pose helps in toning and firming the buttocks, and helping strengthen the shoulders, while also giving the lower back a gentle inversion stretch. This pose also helps in opening up the chest and abdomen, opens up the lungs, and is known to be therapeutic for those who face asthamatic issues.

• Natarajasana (Lord of the Dance Pose) – Challenging your balance and leg strength, this asana, one of the yoga poses of the standing series, stretches the shoulders and the chest, hones concentration, and requires you to breathe deeply and evenly through the pose as you maintain the position. Be sure to repeat on the other side. 

• Cat/Cow – Along with increasing the flexibility of your spine and helping ease the tension from the neck to the hips, this dynamic sequence also gives the abdomen and chest a good stretch. Connect to your breathing as you move your spine, and the entire sequence will feel much more invigorating. Be sure to move your neck in sync with your back.

• Chakrasana (Wheel Pose) – The ultimate test of whole body  flexibility, this pose gives the back a great inversion stretch, and opens up the chest, abdomen, hamstrings, and tones the glutes. Stretching the chest and the lungs, this pose is often recommended for asthma patients.

Pranayamas or breathing exercises are also a great way to improve your lung capacity and respiratory health. Here are a few yogic breathing exercises that you can add to your yoga training to take it to the next level –

• Nadi Shodhan – Known also as alternate nostril breathing, this pranayama helps in increasing oxygen intake, clears the respiratory channels, and helps alleviate breathing-related symptoms of allergies. It is also a great pranayama for mindfulness and stress reduction. Nine rounds of nadi shodhan are recommended in one sitting for the best impact.  

• Bhramari Pranayama  – This breathing exercise, which translates to bee breath,  is known to help those who suffer with sinus issues, and is known for boosting concentration and focus, promoting relaxation and mindfulness, and alleviating insomnia. Practice this breathing exercise for three to four rounds to feel its impact. 

• Kapal Bhati – The skull shining breathing exercise is one of the most important and popular ones in yoga, and is known for its cleansing impact on the respiratory system and the body, reduces stress, improves digestion and thanks to all this, can also be a great boost to weight loss. Three rounds of twenty breaths each is a great way to get this breathing exercise done.

• Bhastrika Pranayama – Translated as bellows breath, this breathing exercise helps in energizing the lungs and the body, boosts metabolism, stimulates the nervous system, and is known to stroke the digestive fire too. For those starting out, three rounds of seven to ten breaths are a good place to begin.

Yoga For Lung Health and More? Hith Yoga Has You Covered!

Yoga can be your ultimate wellness tool, one that works on both the mind and body and promotes positive changes. But if you are new to yoga and wondering how and if yoga can help you with your specific fitness goals, diving into this vast discipline can be intimidating. So, why not let the experts help you out? Hith Yoga Studio has long been known in Delhi-NCR as one of the best yoga studios around, and for good reason. Combining the best of yogic variety, holistic approach, highly experienced teachers and facilities such as personal and corporate classes and workshops, Hith Yoga helps in ensuring that you get the best from yoga in every session. So, what are you waiting for? Join Hith Yoga today, and change the way you experience yoga.