Exploring Yoga Mindfully : Do you know how to "Pet your Lizard?"

After class last week one of my yogi's told me that he was struggling with his breath during class. Was there a "proper" way to breath during a yoga practice? As an avid biker, this yogi had learned a specific way to breath. Could he/should he use this breath during his practice? Were the two practices (biking & yoga) similar, and as a result, the breath could also be similar? I wondered, could they? Should they? The first is predominately a lower body exercise, while the second can focus on the entire body. Biking can be a cardiovascular workout, while yoga may or may not, depending on the class you take. The more we talked and dissected the more questions arose.

During my teacher training we had been taught that there was a relationship between our movement/ asanas and our breath. With each movement the breath either brought us into the asana or took us out of it. But, I have also read that, as a teacher, I should not be necessarily telling my students how to breath because we each breath differently. I don't know what breath works best for you and visa versa. I may, at times, ask my yogis to breath a specific way, but I also welcome freedom.

As we talked I expressed my view on breath during yoga; to each their own. He asked if I had heard of the "lizard brain" and its relationship with our breath. Brittany, one of our talented yoga teachers opened his eyes as she stated that at times of challenge to "pet the lizard." Had I heard of this phrase? No, I had not; but curiosity drew me in. He went on to explain; that at times we may find ourselves in a pose or a place where we begin to get nervous, our heart rate goes up, we may begin to breathe faster, and all we want to do is run away. Our sympathetic nervous system takes over and we find ourselves in a "fight or flight" mode. So, according to my yogi, we need to "pet the lizard." We need to use our breath to calm the mind (and the body) taking us from the sympathetic to the parasympathetic (to the rest & digest).

What is the Lizard Brain? According to research, the lizard brain/or the reptilian brain is, "the primitive part of our brain responsible for fight, flight, feeding, fear, and freezing-up." This "brain" can ignite over a variety of issues; losing our job, a fight with a loved one, a yoga pose that we find overly challenging, not having enough food to eat or a place to sleep. I believe that we all need this part of our brain; we need it to survive those situations that challenge us. Through this we find those traits that we need face our fears and move on.

Can we tame the Lizard Brain? Can we learn to "Pet our Lizard?" One can just picture this scenario: you are in a predicament and you can feel your body reacting to the stress and strain beginning to fill your body and mind. You close your eyes and picture your favorite lizard (if you have one) and imagine gently petting it to calm yourself down. Slow and steady.

Lindsey Lewis, yoga teacher and life coach states that there are ways to work with your lizard brain:

5 Ways to Work With Your Inner Lizard Brain

Name him or her. Giving your lizard a name helps us to remember these thoughts are coming from an area of our brain, not our whole self. They are not necessarily “Truths.”
Treat them with compassion. Compassion is the only way through. Resistance breads persistence. Treating our lizards with love and compassion helps them feel they can calm down—and maybe take a nap long enough for us to do what we really wanted to, anyway.
Witness what they have to say. From the compassionate place, we can witness and hear what our inner lizards have to say.
Breathe deeply. Our breath is the greatest connection we have to our nervous system. Breathing deeper is the fastest, quickest, scientifically-proven way to get our nervous system back into a place of balance; and help ourselves come back to a place of less stress, anxiety, anger and negativity and more neutrality.
Act. Practice doing it anyway. Act as if the fear, anger or negativity your inner lizard is feeling about whatever it is you want to do was never there. You haven’t ignored it. You’re not pretending you don’t feel it. You’re simply acknowledging its presence, and taking the leap anyway.