Dirgha Pranayama is useful in and of itself, but you can have fun taking it a step further by adding a visualization and seeing where that takes you.
As I’ve mentioned before, one of my goals when practicing yoga and meditation is to feel at home within myself: comfortable, at ease, totally, and vibrantly…”myself”. I love layering a visualization on to Dirgha to help me get to that place. One visual I use is imagining myself growing large enough to contain ALL that I am on the inhale, and letting go of everything cluttering my mind, body, and spirit on the exhale.
You might have to put this into your own words to make it work for you, so, experiment !
You might imagine it is your body that is growing large, or perhaps your sprit, or your mind. Whatever helps you to feel that you are big enough to contain all that you are. Your quiet self, your loud self, your daughter self, your sister self, your lover self, your angry self, your musician self, your wild self, your student self, your spirit self... all of it. Or perhaps you want to focus on being big enough to contain all that a moment is, all that another person is, all that a place is, etc.. alter it to fit what it is you feel you most need.
And for the exhale? You likely know what it is you need to let go of. Thoughts, feelings, concepts, c l u t t e r of the mind, body, spirit.
This is just a suggestion. Your experience of Dirgha doesn’t have to lead to a certain place. Experiment and find what feels good for you. Perhaps you love Dirgha without anything else added!
p l a y ! Have FUN on this journey. And when in doubt? Just breathe.
Let me know your thoughts ! Do you find it helpful to use visualization, or do you prefer the simple and straightforward act of intentional breath work? Feel free to comment here or contact me directly with any questions or for further guidance!
Happy Breathing!