Audio Practices

Sometimes the most supportive thing you can do is press play and be guided.

Dirga Pranayama - The Three Part Breath

Dirga pranayama is one of the most foundational and accessible breathing practices in the yogic tradition and one of the most immediately beneficial for a nervous system caught in the shallow, restricted breathing patterns that stress and anxiety produce.

The word dirga comes from the Sanskrit meaning complete or full and that is exactly what this practice offers. Dirga pranayama invites a conscious, sequential expansion of the entire respiratory system, filling the body from the bottom up, in three distinct and deliberate stages, the opposite of restricted or shallow stress breathing.

The breath begins in the belly, the low, slow, diaphragmatic breath that activates the parasympathetic nervous system and is, for many people living with chronic stress or anxiety, almost entirely absent from daily life. From there it expands into the ribcage, the side ribs, three-dimensional expansion of the mid chest that opens the intercostal muscles and allows the lungs to receive their full capacity of air. Finally the breath rises into the upper chest and collarbones and completes the full, three-part wave of inhalation that gives dirga its name.

The exhale reverses the sequence, releasing first from the upper chest, then the ribcage, then drawing the belly gently back toward the spine to empty completely. The breath moves through the body like a tide, filling and emptying, rhythmic, and complete.

What makes dirga pranayama so valuable is not just the volume of air it brings in, but the quality of presence and body awareness it cultivates. To breathe in three parts requires attention. Practiced slowly and with genuine attention, dirga breath activates the parasympathetic nervous system, stimulates the vagus nerve through deep diaphragmatic movement, massages the abdominal organs, reduces cortisol, and creates a felt sense of expansion, groundedness, and ease that is available in just a few conscious breaths.

It is where we begin. All you need is somewhere comfortable and a willingness to arrive.