Pranayama Workshop with Leslie Hogya

Last week, I attended a Pranayama workshop with Leslie Hogya at the Iyengar Yoga Center of Hong Kong. Leslie is one of the most senior Yoga teachers around, and has studied for forty years with B.K.S. Iyengar. She is president of the Canadian Iyengar Yoga Association.

Over three sessions (2-3 hours each), here is what I took away:
(I am sure there was tons more, but I am just a beginner.)

• Pranayama requires a good command of basic yoga poses (asanas).
• It is best performed sitting (lotus pose)
• Unless the lotus pose is mastered, it should be performed sitting on a chair
  
• Unless sitting has been trained properly, it should be performed lying down

• Breathing takes place in the chest, not the belly
• While inhaling, the abdomen should retract
• The intercostal muscles (between ribs, like any other muscle harden over time and need to be stretched

My ribcage is super-stiff, close to concrete. Although much smaller, Andrew for example found several times more space in his ribcage. For me, this is a looong journey but well worth the effort.

Overall this was an absolute unique opportunity to study with someone like Leslie. She greatly helped demystifying Pranayama, and got me started in a new direction. The obvious targets are and increase in my free-diving capacity, and a reduction in air consumption on scuba.