People tell me often in class how hard they find the breathing especially when it comes to linking breath with movement and that they seem to be inhaling when they’re meant to be exhaling, generally holding their breath or just feeling that their breaths are too short.

I used to experience just the same thing early on in my practice. When it came to following my teachers pace in class, it always seemed too slow and I would have to hold my breath between the inhales and exhales, take extra breaths or even rest in child’s pose as I felt out of breath. I would often feel tired or lacking in stamina and I see this now when I teach people who I know are physically really fit but seem to struggle with their fitness. This always comes down to their breathing technique as our breath provides the fuel for the muscles in our body and if we aren’t breathing efficiently the body won’t have enough fuel to feel strong during yoga.

In short, breathing well means getting enough oxygen to nourish your body. When we have uneven or short breaths, we’re not getting as much oxygen into our bodies as we could. It takes practice to improve your breathing technique but start by focusing my top 5 tips.

1) Always start with your breath. Whenever you unroll your yoga mat, sit or lie down, close your eyes and connect to your breath. Deepen your inhale and lengthen your exhale. As you begin to move keep this connection to your breath.

2) Focus on your exhale. When we exhale more fully, this naturally leads to a deeper inhalation, which means a richer more efficient breath.

3) Count your breath. Often in class we are so busy trying to follow what pose the teacher is instructing that we simply aren’t mindful of our breathing. Start counting your breath and try to make your inhale and exhale of equal length.

4) Practise the Ujjayi Breath. This is a great technique to focus on as it is a powerful breath which encourages you to use your full lung capacity. It is also an audible breath so it keeps you focused on your breathing, when you can hear that your breath is getting short you know you need to rest in child’s pose for a moment and let everything settle.

5) Practise! Getting in sync with your breath will radically change your yoga. So practise. I have two free videos to support you, Technique Lesson on Yoga Breathing and Instructions for the Ujjayi Breath.