Why place importance on your breathing during your yoga | With Paula Malloy

You can find more details about Paulas upcoming Yoga workshops below

Slow Down Yoga - A 5 Week Course

Monday 13 April 2026 19:30 - 20:30 to Monday 18 May 2026
https://www.theoak-house.co.uk/retreats-and-workshops/slow-down-yoga-course-april-may

Beginner's Progression Yoga - 10 Week Course

Wednesday 15 April 2026 19:30 - 20:30 to Wednesday 1 July 2026

https://www.theoak-house.co.uk/retreats-and-workshops/beginners-yoga-april-jul

Breath as the foundation of your asana (stretch) yoga practice

In yoga, breath is far more than a basic biological function to get you through a practice, it is a powerful

interface between the body, the brain, and our internal state. Modern science increasingly supports what

yogic traditions have taught for centuries: how we breathe directly influences how we feel, think, and

perform.

Breathwork is not an ‘extra’ in yoga, it’s the foundation of the practice. By learning to work with your

breathing you gain access to one of the most effective, evidence-based tools for regulating your body and

mind and once you know the skills it’s free, as you take your breathing everywhere!

The practice of pranayama, (the conscious regulation of breath) offers a way to actively shape your internal

processes. When integrated with asana (physical postures), breathwork transforms yoga from just movement

into a complete mind–body practice that enhances physical health, emotional balance, and mental clarity.

Why Breathwork Matters: A Scientific Perspective

Breathing is one of the few physiological processes that is both automatic and under voluntary control!

This makes it a unique tool for influencing the nervous system, which governs many essential functions

including heart rate, digestion, and stress response. Through intentional breathing, we can shift the body between two key states:

Sympathetic and Parasympathetic.

Sympathetic Nervous System

Action mode, often referred to as the fight-or-flight response, this state prepares the body for action.

Increases heart rate and blood pressure

Releases adrenaline and noradrenaline

Sharpens focus and reaction speed

Enhances physical performance and alertness

The Sympathetic state is essential in situations that require quick thinking, high energy, or physical exertion,

such as playing sport, gym work, problem-solving under pressure, exams, dealing with difficulty, responding

to danger.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Recovery mode, known as rest-and-digest, this state supports restoration and balance.

Slows heart rate and reduces blood pressure

Lowers stress hormones such as cortisol

Calms anxiety and emotional reactivity

Improves focus, clarity, and emotional regulation

Promotes recovery, digestion, and relaxation

This is the state in which the body heals, repairs, and integrates.

The Role of Breathwork (Pranayama) in Yoga

The conscious regulation of the breath (Pranayama) provides a direct pathway to regulate these systems.

Slow, controlled breathing, especially with extended exhales, activates the parasympathetic response,

helping the body shift out of chronic stress. More dynamic breathing techniques, stimulate the sympathetic

system when energy and alertness are needed.

This ability to consciously move between action and recovery, which is what we do in yoga, is key to

resilience. Rather than being stuck in one mode, for example stress, or unmotivated.

The conscious regulation of the breath teaches flexibility to move from alert to relaxed with more ease and

control. So when we learn that the breath leads movement in yoga, several things begin to change:

Movements become more efficient and controlled, the mind stays focused and present, the body avoids

unnecessary tension, we become mindful, the practice becomes both energising and restorative.

Over time, this awareness extends beyond the mat, into how you respond to stress and how quickly you

recover from it on a day to day, moment to moment bases.

Emotional Regulation Through the Breath

The breath is one of the most immediate tools we have to influence our emotional state, as it sits at the

intersection of body and mind. When we feel anxious or overwhelmed, breathing often becomes shallow and

rapid, reinforcing stress. Through skilful breathwork, we can signal to the nervous system that it is safe to

relax, helping restore balance.

That said, breathwork is not one-size-fits-all!! Which is why it’s healthy to take time to learn about this

primary function. Some individuals with anxiety, depression, auto immune conditions, may need additional

support to regulate how they feel with additional means (not breathing alone), this is where a professional

approach in a 1:1 session with a skilled yoga therapist, can be invaluable.

From the scientific perspective, breathwork directly affects the relationship in the brain between:

The amygdala (emotional centre) and the prefrontal cortex (rational control centre). When under stress, the

amygdala can dominate, leading to emotional reactivity, anger for example. Conscious breathing can help torestore balance, supporting greater self-control with heightened emotions, less emotional overwhelm and

better decision-making in stressful moments.

Processing your emotions, not suppressing them

In a supportive environment, breathwork can be invaluable in allowing emotions to be processed rather than

avoided. It helps you stay present with difficult feelings, reducing long-term emotional buildup and

encouraging healthier emotional integration and expression. It offers the building blocks of emotional

resilience. With regular practice and expert guidance, the nervous system can be trained to recover more

quickly from stressful triggers and become less reactive over time. You don’t just calm down, you become

harder to overwhelm!!!! As Breath awareness creates a crucial pause, reducing your sensitivity to triggers by

creating just enough space between difficult feeling and unhelpful reaction.

The individual moves from…

Reacting → responding

Impulsivity → control

Overwhelm → stability

Developing patience, clarity, and emotional balance.

Breathwork is adaptable

It’s not just a tool for calming stress. Well taught breath work can energise and uplift someone if they are

experiencing lethargy, low level depression and if motivation is a challenge.

Healthy and skilful breathing knowledge is a flexible tool to utilise depending on what you need emotionally

and this flexibility allows you to respond to your emotional needs in real time.

Emotional regulation is not about suppressing emotion, but learning to experience it without being

overwhelmed, providing a direct, scientifically grounded way to build emotional resilience, one breath at a

time.

Breathwork and your circulation (heart and blood flow)

Breathing, as we know, directly influences blood flow and heart function through pressure changes in the

chest and oxygen exchange. Your heart rate naturally slows during exhalation and slightly increases during

inhalation, this is known as respiratory sinus arrhythmia, and it’s a sign of a healthy, adaptable

cardiovascular system.

As you inhale, the lungs expand and pressure in the chest decreases, helping draw blood back to the heart,

particularly into the right atrium. During exhalation, pressure inside the chest slightly increases, which helps

move blood from the lungs into the left side of the heart, making it easier to pump oxygen-rich blood out to

the body. It’s a beautifully coordinated system.

When we begin to breathe consciously, the benefits go even further. Breathwork in yoga can strengthen the

respiratory muscles, including the diaphragm, increase lung capacity, and improve how efficiently oxygen is

delivered to tissues, especially when breathing through the nose. Nasal breathing supports the production of

nitric oxide, which enhances oxygen uptake and circulation.

Additional benefits include supporting cellular energy production, encouraging proper diaphragmatic

breathing over shallow chest breathing, and reducing unnecessary tension in the neck and shoulders. It also

contributes to spinal support and pelvic floor stability as well as supporting post-exercise recovery, and give

you the tool to help you fall asleep more easily and enjoy deeper, more restorative sleep.

Breathwork and the effects on the mind

The mind and the breath are intimately linked. When the mind is agitated, the breath becomes disturbed;

when the breath becomes steady, the mind gradually settles.

This is why pranayama is traditionally considered a preparation for meditation. By learning to regulate the

breath, practitioners begin to quiet the constant stream of thoughts and mental distractions.

A breath-centered yoga practice can help with: Racing thoughts, mental overwhelm, difficulty concentrating,

persistent worry or rumination.As the breath slows and deepens, the mind will naturally become more spacious and clear, rather than

becoming trapped in cycles of worry about the past or future, mindfulness brings attention back to the simple

experience of breathing and being present.

Through skilful learning and consistent practice, breathing with awareness becomes something that extends

way beyond the yoga mat. It becomes a tool we can use in daily life, during stressful moments, difficult

conversations, or times of uncertainty.

Learning pranayama and breathwork within yoga asana is not simply about improving your yoga stretches; it

is about learning how to live with greater awareness and balance. Breathing as a practice for life. Without the

breath in the body, there is no life.

Each conscious breath becomes an opportunity to pause, reset, and reconnect with ourselves. In a world

that often encourages constant doing and striving, the simple act of breathing with intention reminds us to

listen inwardly, and cultivate a steadier, more compassionate relationship with our bodies and minds and

those around us.