Darth Vader Takes Bikram Yoga

art by Illustrator Rob Osborne

Pranayama (Standing Deep Breathing) consists of standing with your heels and toes together and standing straight and tall.  The fingers are interlaced under the chin and then you take a long, deep breath in as you lift just your elbows towards the ceilings keep the fingers underneath the chin.  Then with a loud exhale 'Haaaaa' you let out every last bit of air as your drop just your head back and bring your elbows to touch in front of you by bringing your palms together, wrists together, forearms together, and at last elbows together.  This breathing exercise is done in two sets of a gazillion each.  (Hey, I never can manage to count how many exactly because I always get caught up in musing why my head is so freaking heavy when I drop it back and what if it gets stuck one day and I can't lift it back up?!)

The exercise is done as a warm up for all of the other postures that are to come in class.   It seems, at first, not terribly difficult to do but that's a little bit deceptive.   There's all sorts of little things to attend to while lifting your elbows and then tilting your head back:  hips forward, weight back in the heels, chest lifted, shoulders down, fingers interlaced, butt tight, legs locked.  The other day in class I thought I had this all down when I became aware that I was taking class with Darth Vader.

Several Darth Vaders.  In fact, about thirty of them.   The inhalations were very nearly as loud as the exhalations!   At first, I told myself that it was just the collective sound of EVERYONE making it seem so loud but then my ears began to zero in on individuals' breathing all around me.  Each one of them was a Darth Vader!   How did they manage to be so loud?   It's not as if you could shout an exhale.  

I pondered this for a few moments and focused on my own breaths.   They seemed so quiet and much more reasonable but then I realized something.   Instead, of taking the biggest breath in that I could and letting all of the air out of my lungs I was holding back because I was embarrassed to be 'too loud.'   On the next inhale, I tried to push past my self consciousness a little bit and I noticed I was able to stretch and lift my elbows just a little bit higher.   When I exhaled a little more forcefully, I was able to to lift my elbows out and away from my body just a little bit more as I brought them together.  

Carefully I concentrated for the remainder of the exercise on not worrying if I was 'loud' as I breathed deeply in and out.   It was amazing the difference it made in my ability to stretch up and out as I prepared my body for rest of the class.  I felt invigorated with all fresh oxygen I was breathing in and excited to discover just how much a difference the correct breathing technique can make.   I don't know if anyone would refer to me as Darth Vader just yet, but I'm working on making sure I take the deepest breaths possible during Pranayama and not worrying if I'm 'too loud.'  =)