Hello everyone and welcome to Yoga with Adriene.

I'm Adriene.

Just kidding guys.

It's me and Happy Halloween.

Today we're going to learn a breath practice
called Kapalbhati.

This is an amazing breath practice that's
so yummy for you.

It's cool because Kapal in Sanskrit means
skull, and Bhati means shine or lumen.

So people often refer to this breath as skull
shine.

Amazing, right.

Or skull luster.

But some of us good old fashioned yogis just
call it the plain old breath of fire.

So hop on the mat and let's begin.

All right.

So to begin our Pranayama practice today,
we're going to some to a nice comfortable

seat.

I'm suggesting a nice cross-legged position
or a little Siddhasana but you can also practice

this in a chair or on the couch or in bed
or on a... was trying to do a Dr. Seuss thing.

Okay.

For Kapalbhati breath, come to a nice comfortable
seat.

We're going to sit up nice and tall and we're
going to break it down here a little bit.

So we're going to begin by just bringing the
hands to the lower belly.

So this is a fast-paced rhythm breath, but
we're going to begin by just checking in with

the nature of our breath.

So if you're new to Pranayama practice or
new to yoga, or sometimes it's just a great

reminder, in yoga, we really encourage a breath
that moves down as you inhale, fills the belly

with air, and then travels up and out as you
exhale.

So I'm trying to keep it nice and simple here.

But it can be a little complicated if you're
used to breathing in, sucking air up and in.

If you smoke or you're a smoker, you know
what I'm talking about, it's that sucking

up and in, and this is very common, whether
you smoke or not.

But we should all quit smoking.

Quit smoking.

Let's all do it together.

Another conversation there.

No toxic thoughts.

But that's a great example.

You're sucking in and lifting up.

Try to open your mind to dropping that breath
down into the lower belly.

So we're going to bring the hands to lower
belly, and imagine the diaphragm or the lower

belly dropping and breathing into that area
of the body.

And then as you exhale, the belly and the
navel comes in and we go ahead and visualize

the breath coming in and out the nose or mouth.

So if you're just like, what the what?

Sometimes you just need to practice and experience
it to get the hang of it.

So we take a deep breath in, and then we let
it go any which way.

On your next inhale, imagine the breath traveling
down, down, down to the lower belly.

Lower belly expands and on the exhale, we
draw the navel in and we imagine that breath

coming in and out through the nose or mouth.

So a couple times on your own.

Inhale, breath travels down as we sip it in,
belly expands, exhale, navel draws in.

We push all the air out.

Inhale in and exhale out.

One more time.

Inhale.

Imagine filling that lower belly with air.

Breath drops down.

Exhale, navel draws in.

Breath travels in and out the mouth.

So in my public classes, I always try to get
people to see the breath.

Close your eyes and see that visualization
of the breath traveling down on the inhale.

It does this sweet little Olympic somersault
and then it comes up and out on the exhale.

So the reason I bring this up as we learn
Kapalbhati breath is that's kind of the yogic

way that we breath, and kind of learning to
engage the breath with the body, that way

is a really important part of, I think, the
yoga practice and Kundalini practice as well.

So this is a Kundalini breath where we actually
flip that.

Some people call it a paradoxical breath,
but instead of the inhale being active, the

exhale is.

True to other Pranayama videos we've done,
this can also be a little bit hard to explain.

So I'll do my best and then we'll just practice
together and see what happens.

So for Kapalbhati, we need to step nice and
tall.

We'll bring the hands to the lower belly again.

Take a sip of air in through the nose and
exhale, draw the belly in.

Inhale in.

Exhale out.

Inhale in.

Out through the lips.

Inhale in.

Belly expands.

Exhale out.

So we're starting to get the hang of it here.

Now we're going to begin to speed it up, which
is what this particular technique requires.

We move in a fast paced rhythm, and eventually
we'll be able to grow this Pranayama practice

so that we can do this for longer periods
of time.

This is a powerful technique.

Very therapeutic, but you might notice a little
lightheadedness or a little dizziness as you

start to kind of dig in.

So that's normal.

When you start to feel that way, you might
take a rest, even if I haven't cued it.

As always, listen to your body and let your
breath really speak to you.

Okay.

So sit up nice and tall.

We're going to speed it up this time.

So the inhale is passive this time.

The exhale is active.

And we are seeking this sort of pumping breath.

This nice pumping rhythm.

Okay.

Sit up nice and tall.

Hands come to belly.

Let's go ahead and roll the shoulders forward
up and back and release my bad jokes.

Okay.

We inhale in deeply.

Exhale completely, and we begin Kapalbhati.

Take a deep breath in and exhale.

Let the practice go.

All right.

Notice how you feel after your first round,
and we'll take a moment to go a little deeper.

Okay.

So hands on the belly allow us to really target
just this navel chakra area.

If you're new to the practice, chances are
it's kind of hard to center the energy on

this area of the body.

You might notice your shoulders moving up
or the rest of your body.

In time, see if you can isolate this part
of the body.

Really great for the organs here and so good
for the nervous system, and it takes practice.

So if you feel like you're going at first,
it's completely normal and it takes practice.

Another thing is, you might have noticed,
for me I took a couple of breaths in and out,

in through the nose and out through the mouth
just to get started, but you want to transition

into in and out through the nose for this
breath.

Super yummy.

All right.

So let's practice again.

Inhale, rolling the shoulders forward, up,
and exhale, drawing them down and back.

Find a soft focus here.

Just maybe pass the nose here or you can close
your eyes and roll your gaze up to the third

eye.

We're all at different levels here, so find
something that works for you.

I think definitely softening the gaze, even
if you're looking at the video, just kind

of softening the eyelids helps focus.

Here we go.

Deep breath in to start.

Long, complete exhale out.

And we begin.

Keep going.

Keep your rhythm.

Find your rhythm.

And release.

Take a deep breath in and exhale.

Close your eyes here.

Don't look at the video.

Just take a moment here.

Maybe flip the palms up to notice how you
feel.

Get that yoga high going.

All right.

Last time.

If you're feeling like, whoo, skully lumen,
Adriene, then just take a moment here in meditation

pose to observe, or you can pause the video
now and take just a moment to chill.

Chill pill here.

Otherwise, we're going to crawl into one more
round together.

Okay.

Here we go.

Inhale, looping the shoulders forward, up,
and on the exhale drawing them down and back.

This time, if you're returning to this video,
you might try bringing the palms together

at the heart Anjali Mudra, or if you're still
new to the practice, I often still practice

with hands on the belly.

You might try a different Mudra here.

Make it your own.

Have a little fun.

Okay.

Here we go.

Whenever you're ready, we'll begin.

And release.

Once again, take the quiet moment here to
notice how you feel.

I definitely feel it from the crown of my
head, all the way through the soles of my

feet.

Then we'll slowly bat the eyelashes open and
let it go.

All right, my friends.

That was Kapalbhati breath, or breath of fire.

I encourage you to return to this practice
once or twice a week.

This is one of those things where with practice,
it really begins to become like second nature.

Also, if you had a weird experience and you
felt like you were doing this the whole time,

totally normal.

This is one of those Pranayamas where you
kind of have to get out of your own way, and

if you think about it too much, it's kind
of impossible.

So practice, practice, practice, my friends.

Lots of yummy benefits I'm going to list on
the blog from this Pranayama practice.

Really great for the immune system.

Really balancing of the nervous system.

Really great if you're trying to quit something,
quit a bad habit or you're addicted to something.

This is a great tool that you can supplement
into your journey there too as well.

So more on that on the website.

As always, leave questions, comments below.

Have a happy and safe Halloween.

Find lots of treats and a few tricks too.

Okay.

Take care everyone.

I'm going to put this guy on because guess
what?

We're twinsies.

Look at this.

Look at this meta yoga shit.

Namaste everyone.