I love that the breath is a tool I have with me always. No matter where I am or what I'm doing. Breath is incredible because it is both involuntary and voluntary. It runs on autopilot in the background of my life, sustaining me without my having to think about it or monitor it at all. And yet! When I want to, I can control it. Pranayama, or breath regulation, is a part of yoga that I have brought into my every day life.
I try to use the breath as a way to calm myself, or energize myself (depending on what I need in the moment). I utilize a long deep exhale to create space between stimulus and response. This helps me remain calm when responding to the many stressors and sensory overwhelm of raising 4 young children. I used my breath in all of my (quite traumatic) labor and delivery experiences, allowing the focus on it to hold me completely still during moments of delicate medical procedures, or to move me through many hours of contractions.
My favorite feeling during a yoga asana practice is matching my breath with my movements. It helps me feel gratitude and power IN my body and in the present moment.
Pranayama is a way to connect the conscious and unconscious mind, as we are taking a system (respiratory) that is typically unconscious/ involuntary, to voluntary or conscious.
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