{"id":79944,"date":"2017-08-22T11:58:33","date_gmt":"2017-08-22T15:58:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wanderlust.com\/?p=79944\/"},"modified":"2017-08-22T12:10:21","modified_gmt":"2017-08-22T16:10:21","slug":"movement-meets-breath-3-important-patterns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/pt-pt\/journal\/movement-meets-breath-3-important-patterns\/","title":{"rendered":"Movement Meets Breath: 3 Important Patterns"},"content":{"rendered":"

This piece originally appeared on\u00a0AshtangaDispatch.com<\/a>. Peg Mulqueen is a Wanderlust Festival teacher and mentor. Cathc her at a Wanderlust event<\/a> near you!<\/em><\/p>\n

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It took me almost a decade before I felt courageous enough to walk into an Ashtanga<\/a> class. All I could see was what looked like gymnastics\u2014and I am no gymnast. So convinced I was too weak or inflexible\u2026 too old\u2026 or still too much of a beginner, I didn\u2019t dare try.<\/p>\n

But I what I thought was powered by strength, agility, age, and experience, was not really at all. Because it is the breath that is at the very heart of the Ashtanga yoga practice. You see, Ashtanga yoga isn\u2019t a style made of up series or poses\u2014it\u2019s a method. A breathing method. The breath<\/a> helps give our movement both a shape and a direction. Like an embedded code, every gesture is scripted with an inhale or an exhale, programming our nervous system to work with our musculature in a way that can both calm and energize. So when body and breath work together, movement flows more naturally\u2014no matter how strong, flexible, young, or inexperienced you are.<\/p>\n

The breath was the key I couldn\u2019t see. Here is the thread that connects mind and body. And like yoga itself, the breath is only something to be experienced.<\/p>\n

Here are three important patterns of breath and movement to look for in your yoga practice\u2014and you don\u2019t even have to be a gymnast to discover.<\/p>\n

Follow the Exhale<\/h3>\n

At the very bottom of the exhale<\/a>, there lives a magical place\u2014only getting there takes patience and commitment. But those who follow this thread all the way down, will surely be rewarded. For at the exhale\u2019s deepest depth, there is a place where the belly lets go and relaxes into the body, creating almost a cave. Buried in this space are where the\u00a0bandhas\u00a0live\u00a0\u2013 but you\u2019ll have to reach them first to wake them.<\/p>\n

One of the easiest places to access\u00a0bandhas\u00a0is from a forward fold:<\/p>\n