Sectional Breathing

1.  Vibhágiya Svasana (Sectional Breathing)

l     This is a preparatory breathing practice for Pránayama. It corrects the wrong breathing pattern and increases the vital capacity of the lungs. It has three sections:
A.  Abdominal (Diaphragmatic) Breathing (Adhama)

Sthiti: Vajrásana
Practice
Place the hands resting on the thighs in Cin Mudrá.
Inhale, (püraka) deeply, slowly and continuously,  the abdomen  bulges out.
Before exhaling stop the breath for a few seconds effortlessly.
Exhale, (recaka) the abdomen is drawn inwards continuously and slowly. 
Before the breath is reversed, stop the breath for a second.
Repeat  this breathing cycle five times.
There should be no jerks in the whole process. It should be smooth, continuous and relaxing.

Note
lIn abdominal breathing the air fills the lower lobes of the lungs.
Avoid  movement of the chest.

2.   Thoracic (Intercostal) Breathing (Madhyama)

Sthiti: Vajrásana
practice
l     Place the hands resting on the thighs in Cinmaya Mudrá.
l     While inhaling, expand the chest cage forwards, outwards and upwards.
l     While exhaling relax the chest wall and return to resting position.
l     Repeat this breathing cycle five times.
Note
Avoid movements of abdomen.

3. Upper Lobar (Clavicular) Breathing (Ádya)

Sthiti: Vajrásana
Practice
l     Sit in any meditative posture.
l     Place the hands resting on thighs in Ádi Mudrá.
l     While inhaling raise the collar bones and shoulders upwards and  backwards.
l     While exhaling drop down the  shoulders to the resting position.  
l     Repeat this breathing cycle five times.

Note
Try and avoid movements of the abdomen and chest .

4.        Full Yogic Breathing

Full yogic breathing is a combination of all the three sections of sectional breathing.
Sthiti: Vajrásana
Practice
l     Place the hands resting on the abdomen at the navel in Brahma Mudrá.    
l     During inhalation, the Adhama, Madhyama and Ádya pránayama occur sequentially.
l     Now exhale in the same sequence(abdominal, chest and clavicular).
l     Repeat this breathing cycle five times.

Note
lThe whole process should be relaxing and comfortable, without any tension in the face.

Roughly gauge the time of your inhalation and exhalation. Take one third of your inhalation time for adhama ,one third for madhyama  and one third for ádya. Follow the same sequence and timing for exhalation.

This exercise can be performed  - lying down in ùavásana  or  sitting in a cross-legged position with head, neck and spine erect.

All breathings should be performed through the nose  and  not through the mouth.
As you increase the number of rounds of Full Yogic Breathing day after day, you will come to develop this practice  as an automatic and normal function of the body.

Benefits
The purpose of this practice is to make the practitioner aware of the three different components  of respiration  (Abdominal, Thoracic and  Clavicular) and incorporate them into Full Yogic Breathing.

Even 10 minutes of Full Yogic Breathing daily can work wonders.
-     You acquire more power and vitality,
-     Calmness in daily activities,
-     Thinking and clarity of thought improve,
-     When you feel tired or angry practice of full yogic breathing will help in calming down your mind and revitalising it.
Limitations

It has no limitations.