HOW TO BREATH DEEPLY AND CONSCIOUSLY
If you look up “deep breathing” at
Wikipedia.com you will find, “Diaphragmatic breathing, or deep breathing is the act of breathing deep into your lungs
by flexing your diaphragm rather than breathing shallowly by flexing your rib cage. Deep breathing expands the stomach (abdomen)
rather than the chest. It is a healthier and fuller way to ingest oxygen.
A common diaphragmatic breathing exercise is
as follows:
1.
Sit or lie comfortably,
with loose garments.
2. Put one hand on your chest and one on your stomach.
3. Slowly inhale through your nose or through pursed lips (to slow down
the intake of breath).
4. As you inhale, feel your stomach expand with your hand. If your chest expands, focus on breathing with
your diaphragm.
5. Slowly exhale through pursed lips to regulate the release of air.
6. Rest and repeat.”
Most people
are "shallow breathers" using only the top portion of the lung. Shallow breathers are likely
to take a breath and pull in their stomach, which pushes the diaphragm up so the air has nowhere to go. What happens next
is that the shoulders go up to make room. If your shoulders move when you take a deep breath, you need
to become aware of your abdomen and learn to use it.
To fill the lungs more deeply, push, or it may feel more like pulling,
the diaphragm muscle down by expanding the abdomen. When this happens, the lungs elongate and draw in air all the way to the
bottom. Allow the belly to expand comfortably all around its circumference — back, sides and front. The abdomen or belly
is the core of our body. It is the center of our body and balance and strength. Very
important organs live there. Proper breathing can strengthen that core, as many exercise programs do.
The idea
of using controlled deep breathing for relaxation, in meditation or in unison with movements, stretching or exercise is certainly
not a new one. Yoga, Tai Chi, Judo, Karate, and many more practices have been teaching the concept for
centuries. Today there are many newer programs designed to optimize breathing in conjunction with stretching
and exercise.
Search for Oxycise, OxygenLift, The Secret Island Breathing Exercises and Breathwalking to find
some of them. These programs and the many others you will find offer books, tapes, CD’s etc. to guide
you through a series of movements in combination with a deep breathing method they teach you. I think any
or all these programs can be beneficial if practiced regularly. Some of them are very simple and designed
to do sitting or lying if necessary. Difficulty level increases as ability improves.
The first
step of any of these programs is learning to breathe consciously. This is actually a rather difficult step
for some people so I suggest you practice deep breathing before attempting to coordinate it with anything else.
Above is the simple method I found at Wikipedia. However, being simple does not
mean it is easy to do. When I first started practicing, I found my body resisting, just as it does with
any change. I felt like I was going to suffocate when I changed my breathing pattern and attempted to stretch
my capacity. Then I got dizzy from the additional oxygen and had to overcome that. I
struggled with remembering the order of breathing. At first, it was hard work but now it is easy to do.
Plan to take it easy at first and be patient with yourself.
If you have breathing restrictions, like COPD
or asthma, your lungs may be even more resistant. You may find yourself coughing, especially after the
deep exhale. This is not bad it is just another symptom indicating you need to do this. Lungs
that have not been used to their full capacity for a long time have lost flexibility and have accumulated stuff in the folds
of tissue that they have to expel.
According to my Mother, who having COPD coughed a lot at first, it does
decrease with practice. She says she has more energy now and can walk farther without having to stop to
catch her breath.
I exhale until my lungs feel empty then contract my abdominal muscles
harder and try to force out more air for another count of three or in three more contractions causing little puffs out.
I inhale by expanding my abdomen until I feel my lungs are full then continue to inhale for another three counts or
in three more little sniffs inward while pushing my belly out.
In my mind I think:
INHALE as I draw in a lungful, then 1, 2, 3 as I try to pull in more air.
EXHALE as I push out most of the air, then 1, 2, 3 as I try to push out more
I do all the work with my abdomen, pushing to stretch it farther outward and contracting more to pull it in harder.
My shoulders never move. I feel my upper chest filling and emptying, but if I feel too much pressure
there, I know I have to shift my attention back to expanding my abdomen.
The object
is to expand my lung capacity as much as possible, thus inhaling as much oxygen as possible and exposing it to as much lung
tissue surface as possible. That means that the largest surface possible of my lung tissue can absorb
oxygen and move toxins from my blood into the air I exhale.
My goal is to spend 30 minutes
a day breathing this way. I break it into several short sessions. I think I get the
best benefits when I stop other activity and concentrate on it fully. However, this something that cannot
be overdone. I find the more I breath deeply the more I like it so I do it every time I think about it.
I feel energized and relaxed, at the same time.
I do not think about my breathing all the time
but I certainly think of it much more often. In the two weeks I have been practicing this, I have noticed
an increase of energy, more sleep that is restful and my pants fit looser around my waist.
Hey, I think those benefits are amazing considering the simple little change I made. I gave up NOTHING.
I breathed MORE.
Patricia Kenworthy © September 2007
