The most important thing in your yoga practice is your breath.
It's not about how strong you are, how far your leg can go behind your head, or whether or not you look good in tight black pants.
If you aren't breathing, you aren't doing yoga. Many will also argue if you aren't breathing, you're dead.
My favorite balancing breath is Nadi Sodhana, or alternate nostril breathing.
I teach this to my students to do before they take a test. It balances the left and the right sides of the brain, breathing in energy and vitality evenly to both sides. Once they get over the fact it looks like they're picking their nose but not, they dig it.
After several rounds of this particular pranayama (fancy pants yoga term for "breath"), I close my eyes and literally feel a lovely oxygen high. Does it make me smarter? No. More focused? Without a doubt.
Take five minutes tomorrow during the day and breathe. Even if it's not Nadi Sodhana, take the time to just deeply inhale and sigh...focus...balance.
You can find detailed Nadi Sodhana instructions here.
I will probably need to engage in Nadi Sodhana tomorrow.....
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