CD: Studio Talks: Breathing and Bandhas

Join Richard Freeman, director of The Yoga Workshop in Boulder, for an exploration of the more subtle aspects of yoga. On The Process of Yoga, this esteemed teacher discusses the two internal forces or breaths, prana and apana, which govern the inhale and exhale, respectively. Prana rises, spreads, and blossoms. Apana descends, contracts, and roots. Joining them consciously is what Richard calls 'the beginning of Yoga.'

When first practicing, the attention will flow with either one of the inner breaths. Feeling and expressing only one of them at a time externalizes the attention into discursive thinking. Simultaneous awareness of these complementary tendencies requires that all of one's attention be on the posture as the object of meditation. Then insight flows unceasingly during any posture and in the movements between the postures.