Breathe with purpose
Take a deep breath, and then let it go. Follow that by another breath, in and out.
Go ahead try it again, but this time pay attention to what’s happening while you breath. Did you notice anything? More than likely, you noticed a swift breath in, tightening of the stomach muscles, expansion of the rib cage with air, followed by an equally swift, short exhalation as the belly softened again.
There isn’t anything wrong with this type of breathing. This is how the majority of us breathe on a regular basis.
What if the breath could do more? What if the breath could relieve tension, quiet a busy mind and bring energy into the body? Talk about a multitasker’s dream! Well, if you stick around and read on, I can help you attain all these wonderful benefits just by spending a minute or two breathing with purpose. So find a comfortable seat or, better yet, try it lying down flat and let’s get breathing!
Place your hands on your belly, thumbs winged up so they are touching the base of your rib cage. Start with a full exhale and allow your body to soften against the floor. As you begin to inhale, draw the breath in through your nose, slow and steady, as if drawing it in through a straw. Imagine your belly is like a balloon and, as you inhale, it is filling with air and expanding, pressing up into the hands. This is enabling our diaphragm to fill completely.
Moving into the exhalation, don’t allow yourself to release it all in one whoosh of air. Keep it slow and controlled just like the inhalation, releasing it back out through the nose. The belly, or “balloon,” should drop away from the hands and contract gently as if you were pushing the air out.
Try this method again and add a count to the breath to keep it steady in length. Four is a good starting number. So inhaling through the nose, count slowly to four. As the belly begins to press up into the hands, notice if you can feel the ribcage also expanding beneath the thumbs. Once you have finished your inhalation, take a pause before exhaling, enjoy the feeling of fullness. You are filled with a beautiful life giving force! Then begin to exhale, counting slowly to four again. Try this breathing style several more times, working to smooth the breath out.
How did it go? How did it feel to allow the belly to grow as you inhaled and shrink back down on the exhale?
For most people, this feels pretty strange at first but don’t worry – that is normal. We breath this way as babies but for some reason we reverse it as we get older, maybe because it feels more time efficient. Breathing this way allows the diaphragm to work as it was meant to, expanding like an upsidedown parachute as we draw the breath in, and contracting back up into the ribcage as we exhale. Reasonably named the diaphragmatic breath, this style of breathing is relaxing because the movement of the diaphragm stimulates our parasympathetic nervous system which slows the heart rate. On top of that, it also speeds up digestion and the cleansing processes of the body.
Even though at first it may feel a bit robotic to breath this way, with a little practice (nice thing about practicing breathing is you can do it anytime, anywhere), you will be able to breath in this fashion with barely a thought.
So go ahead, savor a breath or two.
Bethany Traynor is a yoga instructor, longtime dancer and resident of Chartiers Township. She teaches Hatha yoga at Sri Yantra Yoga Studio in Houston.