Prāṇāyāma is not a demand.

Prāṇāyāma is a surrender.

It is not a demand. It is not

forcing existence your way.

It is relaxing into the way

existence wants you to be.

Prāṇāyāma is a let go.

This Next Breath is a path of surrender. The effortful part of practice is showing up, just getting yourself to practice. Showing up is the will's proper place. Once you are there, it is a delightful release into what the Breath wants you to be.

This surrendered method of breath practice is so alien to the way most teach Prāṇāyāma. Almost all breath practices focus on controlling the breath. They want you to follow a breath ratio. You are supposed to get the breath to submit to your will. They want you to "box the breath" and these methods usually have their secret breath ratio. This leads to a miserable, short lived experience and fills most people with anxiety. Few actually practice; most just talk about their breath ratios. The control freak breath approach is unnecessary. It is emotionally counterproductive. Controlling the breath is a misunderstanding of what the Breath is.

There is a better way.

In the path of Classical Yoga, Prāṇāyāma comes before Meditation. The often stated goal is to slow down the breath. When the breath is slow, the mind becomes empty, docile and spacious. Time gets weird.

Most Prāṇāyāma teachers suggest that slowing the breath to one breath per minute without struggle is the Gold Standard. That means you have graduated and you are ready for meditation.

Slowing the breath down to one per minute happens on the path of surrender and it happens in a most natural and delightful way. The Surrendered approach focuses more on practicing, than controlling.

This Next Breath is a modern practice informed from the ancient lineage of Swami Kripalu. What happens in This Next Breath 2, is similar to Swmai Kripalu's spontaneous saadhana. There are all kinds of mudraas, mantras, aasanas and things happening that are not described in any yoga book I have ever seen. As my own personal practice grows, this course is growing. It will invite you into your own authentic breath practice.

And here is the thing: anybody can do this. You just have to be persistent.