A Guided Breathing Practice

A Guided Breathing Practice with Mark Stephens

The breath is essential for life and at the heart of yoga practice. Yet breathing is often difficult or disturbed, and in yoga it more refined techniques are often said to be dangerous and kept secret unless one is "blessed" to receive the teachings. In this episode, Mark first discusses breathing and pranayama (for about 15 minutes), offering some historical and philosophical perspective. He then gives a guided practice – basically the same daily morning practice he's been doing for the past 18 years.

In this episode you will hear:

• A brief talk on breath, prana, and pranayama (breath cultivation practices), scanning the topic form ancient times to the present;
• Preparing for a safe, comfortable, sustainable, and potentially transformational pranayama practice;
• A guided practice practice with several techniques, including ujjayi, sama & visama vriiti, viloma, antara & bahya kumbhaka, kapalabhati, and nadi shodhana (all translated into and presented in plain English);
• References and links to resources for further and deeper exploration.