written by Inner Fire Yoga teacher, Ken Kloes

What’s the big deal with taking a deep, controlled breath during yoga practice? Other than the obvious benefit of bringing oxygen into the lungs during inhale and eliminating carbon dioxide on exhale, the benefit is much more profound. Understanding some anatomy is key here. Your main breathing muscle is the diaphragm, which separates your lungs from abdominal organs. When you inhale this muscle flexes down into the belly expanding the lungs, filling them up with air. On exhale the diaphragm relaxes upwards squeezing the lungs and forcing air out, the deeper the breath, the bigger the movement of the diaphragm.