a moment of fullness for me, early 2020 when pregnant with my son
What motherhood taught me about fullness
Fullness can feel great; it can also feel overwhelming or even painful. Most mothers have a to-do list that is so full, it can make anyone want to shut down. But being a mom, in its best state, is full of love, precious moments, inspiration, and satisfaction.
The thing is, stress and pushing through a too-busy schedule is probably the biggest obstacle to enjoying all the pleasant aspects of fullness. If we push through that fullness, we get exhausted and swamped by the dozens of things that make adulting and parenting feel so heavy.
Let’s bring some lightness in; let’s open up to fullness rather than cramming ourselves full (ha! An apt metaphor for Thanksgiving week, right?). Deerga swasam, also known as 3-part breath, is an opportunity to embody the idea of relaxing into fullness so we can contain more and release stress in the process.
How to do 3-part breath
Let’s break this down, since there are layers to deerga swasam.
Begin with an exhale to release all the air from your lungs. It’s easiest to open up to fullness and really touch your capacity when you let go of what is stagnant or stuck (physically, it’s the last bit of breath in your lungs; energetically you might be letting go of stress).
When your body is ready to inhale, relax the belly so that the diaphragm can bring air into the lowest part of your lungs. From the outside, this will look like your belly expanding as you inhale. This expansion of the belly comes from the diaphragm descending (contracting). Try this 3-5 times before you move on to the next part. Need a visual or just want to be an anatomy nerd like me? Here’s a video.
For the next 3-5 breaths, lengthen the breath by allowing the inhale to expand the belly and ribcage. Imagine the ribcage expanding in all directions (front, back, and sides).
At this point you can keep the inhalation expanding the belly and ribs, or if you want to take a fuller breath, then for the next 3-5 breaths, let the inhale continue until the chest expands with air. Pause for a moment at the top of the inhale, then exhale in the reverse order: chest relaxes, ribcage contracts gently, then the belly pulls in lightly to complete the out breath.
It might help to picture the breath filling the torso filling from the bottom up on the inhale, the way that a glass of water fills from the bottom up. When you exhale, it’s in the reverse order: chest, ribs, belly.
Here’s a little voice guidance if you’d rather listen and follow along.
Does the length of the breath matter?
The length of the breath here is relative. Counting can be a good tool to slow down and deepen the breath. If you’re new to this, it would be best to focus more on the sensation of the breath: it’s more important to breathe smoothly and without straining. Always take a break if you feel uncomfortable or stressed by this.
Of course, if you’re more experienced with this, counting the length of inhales and exhales can be helpful to deepening the breath as long as that’s comfortable for you. Remember, if you feel any discomfort, dizziness, stress, or anxiety, stop and take a break. If you’ve never practiced this or any other pranayama (yoga breathing practice) it’s a good idea to consult your health care provider before you do.
Finding words to describe your breath
Full, light, open, vast, spacious, resilient; these are some words that come to mind when I practice deerga swasam and when I think of what it means to be full and light (rather than full and burdened). What about you? Feel free to share in the comments. Everyone is different and some people love this breathing practice, while others would rather use another technique for relaxing.
Effort and release: opening up to fullness
Sometimes sitting still and watching the breath can feel so rigid. There are times when some movement or even just changing your posture or position can help us relax into opening up into that fullness that deerga swasam offers us. I’ll touch upon this in subsequent posts as I share our next restorative pose (next week) and yoga sequence (in a couple weeks).
Until then, feel free to look back on this post and this one, too for some details I’ve shared on breathing practices:)
I hope you find some free moments to fill up with this breathing practice. It always sounds so cliche to say that a few deep breaths can help a person to slow down and relax, but it truly is one of those things that is simple and effective if done with force or strain. And of course, I always like to bring it to a deeper level and ask, “As we fill ourselves up with deep breaths, what else fills our lives? Is there anything we want to let go of on the exhales so we can fill up on other things that nourish, comfort, or strengthen us?” Let’s reflect on this as we go into the often too-full holiday season so that we can make sure that we are taking in or taking on the things that feel valuable and authentic to us. Jai ma!
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