When we’re young, we tend to breathe with complete freedom and ease. The kind of freedom that is an expression of our innocence and fearlessness. As we age and rub up against life’s challenges, we lose some of that innocence. We unconsciously shut down and we do this first and foremost by constricting the breath.
Lung capacity reduces as we age. At our peak, we were only using about 70%. The reduction of lung capacity is sped up because of a focus of the breath at either the top of the chest or down in the abdomen. Rather than the natural; chest, diaphragm, abdomen.
Lung capacity is living capacity, it’s our longevity. Western science is catching up with the ancient yogis, and confirming that ageing doesn’t have to be a one-way path of decline. The internal organs are malleable, and we can change them at nearly any age. How exciting is that?!
For the next five weeks (and final five of 2022) of practice we’re focusing on the breath and potentially rolling back the years.