Breath of Fire is without a doubt the most sophisticated Pranayama, breath control. It is an amazing tool with anxiety, nerves, upset, fear, pain, sadness, etc.

Yogi Bhajan said that a person has granted a determinate number of breaths from birth till his death, and breath of fire it’s ONE, from the moment you start till you end. This means you can prolong your life span by doing Breath of Fire!

As mentioned before the way we feel is directly related to the way we breathe. When dealing with challenging or stressful situations in life, our body has an unconscious tendency to pull the diaphragm in. This is the area of the Solar Plexus, where the body keeps all the emotions.

There are seventy two thousand nerves in our body. Out of this seventy two thousand, seventy two are the most important. Out of this seventy two, ten are vital. In India they said that if the third Chakra, one of the focal points where all this seventy two thousand nerves meet, it is not in balance, a person can not get healthy no matter how much medicine is taking. A way to balance it out it’s doing Breath of Fire in “stretch pose".

• Release anxiety, nervousness. Breath of Fire forces the diaphragm in and out. This has a direct impact on the Navel center, releasing the emotions as well.
• Readjust and strengthens the nervous system.
• Helps to regain control over stressful mental states.
• Helps the heart and circulation, flux the toxins out of the blood stream.  
• Massages the internal organs.
• Releases toxins and deposits from the lungs, mucous lining, and blood vessels.
• Expands the lungs capacity.

How to do it

Breathing in and out through the nose, also can be done trough the mouth, pulling the abdomen in during the exhalation towards the diaphragm, and out, in the inhalation. It is very fast, as fast as 2 or 3 times per second, and very loud. The people next to you should be able to hear you. When perfected the rate should be 120 to 180 cycles per minute!!

Do not expect to do it perfectly well the first time, although this can be possible for some lucky ones. Instead, you can start beginning by pushing the abdomen in while exhaling forcefully, and loudly, making more emphasis in the exhalation, and start to building it up from there, until you inhale the same amount of air that you exhale. This is a very balance breath. Both inhalation and exhalation have equal power.

Another way to start is practicing Breath of Fire for a few minutes in thirty sec periods, and alternating it in between with Long Deep Breath. You can build it from there to forty five seconds periods for two or three minutes. Soon you will be able to do it for long periods of time without stopping or struggles.

Contraindications

There is one contraindication when the woman it’s pregnant, or during the two first days of her menstrual cycle. Instead do long deep breathing.