Breathe and Walk: Breathwalk

Breathwalk combines  yoga exercises , walking and  meditation . The fast walking promotes endurance, and the conscious breathing patterns and yoga processes sharpen the mind and achieve the desired relaxation. How does Breath Walk work?

Breath Walk: What is it?

Breathwalk, also known as yoga walk, is a gentle sport that combines walking with rhythmic breathing, meditation exercises and exercises from Kundalini Yoga:

• Breathe in the rhythm of walking, inhale in four sections, exhale again in four sections.
• Thumbs and fingertips touch, you say the mantra “Sa ta na ma” (for infinity, life, death and rebirth) and look into the distance.
• Concentration increases, the head clears, energy returns to the body.

This is how you experience part of the Breathwalk, a combination of  breathing and yoga,  which can also be an aha experience for those who are unfamiliar with yoga and those who do not exercise. Breathwalk has been in fashion in America for years and is finding more and more followers in Europe – and rightly so.

Breathwalk was made famous in this country primarily by the Kundalini yoga master Yogi Bhajan.

If you breathe, you fill up with energy

Humans breathe 20,000 to 30,000 times a day, 16 to 20 times a minute – and almost always unconsciously. Very often one breathes incorrectly: too shallow and too fast under  stress  , sometimes too much in and then out too fast. Correct breathing is   so important: it has been proven, for example, that correct and conscious breathing has a positive effect on heart muscle weakness in cardiovascular patients.

In particular, yogic  breathing exercises  have a very harmonizing effect on stress: the blood is supplied with more oxygen and the body cells regenerate faster. This promotes general health.

If you breathe unconsciously and too shallowly, your blood will not receive enough oxygen. As a result, the toxins cannot be completely removed, which can damage the cells and organs in the long run. It often makes you feel sluggish and depressed.

Running strengthens the cardiovascular system

Fast, sporty walking is a natural, healthy process of the organism. It strengthens endurance, strengthens the entire body and gets the heart, circulation and  metabolism  going. Walking  is good for the cardiovascular system, because the load is nice and even, the walking pace is at a healthy level, which means that overloading is almost impossible. In addition, everyone can go at “their” pace – it’s not about speed or perfection.

The heart volume and the heart’s beating power increase, and the blood flow through the body improves. Regular  endurance training  relieves the heart in the long run because the blood pressure is lower overall.

Walking and Yoga: An ideal combination

Doctors praise the combination of walking and yoga:

• Running is good for metabolism and hormonal control.
• Meditation improves concentration and reduces stress.
• For example, yoga is good for improving breathing mechanics and preventing  asthma .

In contrast to normal walking or walking,  conscious breathing is  practiced with the Breathwalk.

Breathwalk – Instructions for beginners

With breathwalking, walking is associated with a specific breathing rhythm. This can only be done under supervision, especially for beginners, but you learn quickly.

1. Before we start, the body is prepared and warmed up.
2. Slower and faster walking alternate with each other.
3. Breathe in and out at the rhythm of running, counting to four at a time.
4. The walk gets its meditative component from the mental repetition of mantras: the Om is well known – this supports concentration and prevents your thoughts from wandering. Then the conscious breathing is quickly lost again.
5. In an advanced form of the breathwalk, these mantras are combined with certain hand positions – they are called mudras. These serve as a counting aid for breathing.
6. The trainer ends the walk with yoga exercises that stretch the body  .

What is Breathwalk good for?

The ideal thing about the Breathwalk is that the untrained, convalescents and people who consider themselves completely unsportsmanlike can take part and soon realize how effective this form of walking is. In any case, heart patients should discuss with their doctor whether they are allowed to take part in this sport.

Breathwalk improves endurance when you run regularly, reduces stress, aids in weight loss, strengthens the skeletal system and prevents  osteoporosis  .

Breathing Tips

One component of breathwalking is  abdominal breathing.  As you inhale, the diaphragm should contract and move downward. The abdominal wall should curve forward. This creates a suction in the chest cavity. This causes the lungs to unfold and you breathe in (abdominal/diaphragmatic breathing).

Chest breathing pulls  the  ribs up and away from each other. This enlarges the chest cavity and negative pressure is created again, which leads to inhalation. As you exhale, the diaphragm relaxes and returns to its original shape. This forces stale air out of the lungs. A contraction of the ribs supports this process.

Although Breathwalk needs some practice and should be carried out by beginners under expert guidance, the sport is then also suitable for untrained beginners.