As a child, I suffered from asthma and my parents emphasized the importance of breath awareness and control as a way of managing the condition. Apart from encouraging me to take up swimming and playing woodwind instruments, they also taught me breathing exercises to strengthen my lungs and reduce my reliance on inhalers.
Yoga offers a combination of both asana and breathing techniques to alleviate the occurrence of asthma attacks and strengthen the lungs. Below are some.
Asanas
- Matsyendradasana
- Ardha matsyendrasana
- Pavanamuktasana
- Purvottasana
- Bhujangasana
- Bhadda konasana
- Savasana
Breathing
- Deep relaxation
- Diaphramatic breathing
- Breath isolation (eg chest breathing, stomach breathing, breathing into the sides/back/front of the ribs as you would in specific asanas)
- Nadi shodhana
- Kapalapati
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