Quiet Your Breath

In yoga, we are asked to pay careful attention to every aspect of our breath. Sometimes we have to match our breathing to our movements in and out of the postures. At other times, we use the breath to go deeper into a posture—for example, when we exhale into a twist.
Whether we are working on our breathing as we practice postures or on its own, we should understand that the inhale breath is very different from the exhale breath. The inhale is more energizing and is appropriate for movements that expand and extend. The exhale is more calming and is appropriate for movements that deepen and ground.
When you extend your exhalation, making it longer and slower, you create a calming effect by activating the "relaxation response"--the physiologic opposite of the stress-induced "fight or flight" reaction.