Breath 1, the purpose of breathing

In yoga,breathing is everything. It is the main focus in every pose,every movements have to follow the breath. If we found ourselves holding the breath while doing a posture, or even panting, that could mean that we're pushing ourselves too hard,and needs to ease of a little, until the breathing comes back. There's no point of doing a pose without being able to breath. To get a better understanding of breathing, first we need to know the reason why we breath.
Technically,a human body is 'just' billions of cells working together. All cells has their own metabolism. The metabolism yield energy for the cells to grow, multiply, transform, fight of virus and bacteria, kill other cells, communicate, etc. well,basically everything. There are thousands of metabolisms happening at the same time, and most of them needs oxygen. In other words, every cells need to breathe. Cells takes up oxygen, to burn the fuel, generate energy,and give off carbon dioxide. We get the oxygen from the atmosphere, and of course, by the action of breathing.
We inhale oxygen from our nose or mouth, travel to the lungs, to the blood, travel around the whole body, delivered to the cells, and at the same time moving the waste products; carbon dioxide,in reverse. That's the basic, simplified process. Therefore, if the breathing stops, all the metabolism processes will eventually stop, the cells die, the systems fail one by one, and we just simply die. That's how important breathing is.
Next time,we'll have a look at the anatomy and physiology of breathing.

Prenatal Yoga

Pregnancy is one of the most important moment in women’s life. So many changes happening all at once, and it can be an overwhelming process. Fortunately, yoga provide great tools to assist pregnancy, they are :

Asana practice
Gentle asana practice may improves circulation ; both for the mother and the growing fetus, increase stamina for pregnancy and birth process. Yoga can also help to reduce common discomforts in pregnancy, such as lower back pain, swelling around the ankles, varicose veins, etc. Stretch the muscles around the hips and pelvis to aid birth process, and strengthened legs muscles.

Pranayama / breathing exercise
Breathing exercises increased oxygen supply for the baby. Slow and deep breathing exercise during asana also helps the mother preparing for labour, to breathe through the labour pain. Breathing exercise may also help to reduce nausea and morning sickness during early stage of pregnancy.

Meditation and relaxation
Meditation and relaxation exercise helps to reduce anxiety, stress, and fears that are common during pregnancy. Meditation also increase awareness, self esteem, and helps to connect with the baby.
Deep relaxation also aids labour progress, labour pain is a big stress to the body, and the body tends to tighten up. Relaxation helps the mother to loosen and relax the pelvic muscles, and eventually, speeds up labour progress.