How Breath and Life Connect
How breath and life connect- Breath is our life force, without the function of our lungs and diaphragm, we would not function. When we come to a yoga mat to practice, we learn how to use our circulatory system to it’s fullest advantage. Yoga means Union and the movement, asanas, of yoga are not yoga at all if it is not connected with breath. Yoga will help you to learn how breath and life connect. We can also feel the connection if we pair our yoga practice with essential oils. Yoga and Essential Oils can be combined together for some strong emotional and physical benefits.
When we apply essential oils to skin, diffuse them, or drink them, we are taking the plants natural defense system for our own benefit. Aromatically, essential oils can directly affect the airways. It can affect our moods and emotions, and the aroma can purify the air. When used topically, essential oils can be applied directly to a specific area. When oils are ingested, they can directly support the digestive system and our immune system. So, yoga can be paired with essential oils to help us discover how breath and life connect.
Want actionable yoga tips from me? Ways you can ease pain and modify yoga poses to fit your needs? Then hop on the newsletter! Read more of this content when you subscribe today.
Breathe: Open to Life
Let’s begin a yoga experience together where we can feel our breath expand and realize the rich life we have to live. Start by cleansing the air around you. Take Elevation DoTerra oil blend (paid link) and place a few drops on the top of your yoga mat (paid link) or blanket. Elevation will stimulate your body’s chemistry when feeling lethargy or sadness. It promotes feelings of self worth and you can breathe it in every time you chaturanga!
Next, place a few drops of Grapefruit oil (paid link) in a cup or water bottle. Grapefruit assists in detoxifying the body and cleanses the kidneys. It teaches true respect and appreciation for the body and its functions. Place Lemon oil (paid link) on your forehead and back of the neck. This may help increase oxygen around the pineal and pituitary gland. It is the oil of focus and the crisp scent improves ability to focus.
With the set up done, you can begin your yoga practice by lying on your back in savasana. When we lay on our backs, we can start to feel the way the whole torso moves when we breathe. We feel not only the chest lifting, but the lungs in the back body and the movement deeper toward the stomach in the diaphragm. This is how we can begin to learn how breath and life connect.
Once the breath has been established, stretch the legs with supta utthita hasta padangustasana. This will lengthen the hamstrings and back and teach you how to breath with the stretch. Our bodies react to stretching by the muscles tightening up. Hold the stretch and breathe slow and steady. As the muscles start to relax, you can pull deeper into the stretch. We begin to learn how breath and life connect.
Open to Life with Asana Movement
Place Bergamot oil (paid link) on your heart. This helps to calm, uplift and energize. It encourages balance, strength, and confidence. Start asana movement that leads you to focus on strong breath like vinyasa, Warrior poses, and chest opening poses. These poses and sequences will link the breath and movement and help you stretch the sides of your body. Gravity weighs down on us and poor posture over time leads to chest compression. Deep breathing and stretching through the side body can help to create space between the ribs and increase lung capacity.
Oils of Yoga to Live For
Rub Juniper Berry oil (paid link) over the low back and kidneys. This will support detoxification of the kidneys and may assist with healthy circulation. The circulatory system is how breath and life connect! Continue your practice with deep forward folds like Padangustasana and Padahastasana. These poses will lengthen the hips, hamstrings, and back. When we can move any direction we want, we will love life even more. We learn to value our bodies and what they can do.
Continue with hip opening poses like baddha konasana. Try to ease any tension out of your body as you feel how breath and lift connect.
Finish your practice with Lavender Oil (paid link) applied as a scalp massage. This is calming to the psyche and tissue and assists with relaxation. Lavender can allow you to share your true self with others. Settle back into savasana. You find yourself back to where you started, having come full circle. But this time, your mind and body will be in a different place. Through yoga and essential oils, you know how breath and life connect.
“How we spend our days is of course how we spend our lives.”
Anne Dillard
You can have wonderful yoga experiences at home with online yoga. Check out my Yoga and Essential Oil Program below:
Yoga and Essential Oils
Yoga and Essential Oils
Escape physical and emotional health with Yoga and Essential Oils- Yoga practice paired with essential oils.
Enjoy one themed yoga practice per month designed for the change of the seasons, and the emotional highs and lows that follow.
Each yoga lessons highlights six essential oils and the emotional and physical benefits of each. Pair this with powerful yoga poses for an amazing experience!