First Breathing Theme The Red Level Breathing Themes
Use this Breathing Theme whenever you are learning new poses or routines
When you are learning something new in yoga, don't worry about becoming one with the universe yet. It's enough of a challenge to remember what body parts go where. It's amazing if you even remember to breathe while you're doing it. Until you are very comfortable with a pose, until it becomes second nature to you, focus on the basics:
Get the general idea of the pose, enough so that you can do it safely.
Come to terms with the pose. By that I mean, find ways to modify it so it works for you.
Remember to breathe in and out whenever and however it occurs to you, and use the First Breathing Theme.
Here's the First Breathing Theme:
Get into the pose. Make your best effort, but don't get too caught up in detail. Once you're in the pose and have a handle on it:
Take a moment to notice that your body relaxes as you breathe out.
Then notice some parts of your body that are not involved in the stretch. Let those parts relax, one by one. Feel them letting go, dropping away as you let go of your breath.
* You'll discover that any stretch will do here. (See the next page for my cat's opinion on that!) However, the later breathing themes work really well with certain kinds of stretches. So if you'd like to get comfortable with those, you'd be off to a good start. They are of various levels of difficulty, and you can focus on the ones you're able to do. They include:
Red Level Breathing Themes 
