HEALTHY BREATHING

"Without mastering breathing nothing can be mastered." G. I. Gurdjieff , Spiritual Pathfinder

"The simplest and most powerful technique for protecting your health is absolutely free, and literally right under your nose," says Harvard Graduate Andrew Weil, MD, author of the NY Times Bestseller, Spontaneous Healing.

Most of us spend very little time thinking about breathing...it is just something our body does automatically and doesn't require much thought or participation on our part. Well you might be surprised to learn that many of us don’t breathe correctly, which can lead to, or exasperate illness. Proper breathing will not only enhance your physical, emotional and mental health, but can also be instrumental in relieving stress and anxiety, reducing muscle tension, improving physical performance, enable clearer thinking, as well as foster self-transformation and spiritual development.

Take a moment and pay attention to how you are breathing right now – are your breaths short and shallow, or deep and slow? When you breathe is your chest expanding outward, or is it your abdomen? Many of us take little, short breaths which can lead to over-breathing, creating a disturbance of the oxygen/carbon dioxide ratio in the lungs, leading to a variety of metabolic and chemical imbalances in the body. Proper breathing involves deep, slow breaths in which the abdominal area expands, enabling the lungs to fill to greater capacity. When we breathe correctly our bodies are properly oxygenated creating an environment conducive to a better state of energy, and at the same time relaxation.

Breathing has as much impact on our physical and emotional wellbeing as our thoughts do. Like many other alternative therapies, there are a variety of techniques that can be used to accomplish the goal of proper breathing…it is important for you to use a technique that is comfortable and feels right to you. One of my favorite CD/book is by Ken Cohen called A Beginners Guide to Healthy Breathing – for more information check with your local music/book store or www.amazon.com/Healthy-Breathing-Ken-Cohen/dp/1591794412 (book), http://www.amazon.com/Beginners-Guide-Healthy-Breathing/dp/1564559424/ref=pd_sim_b_5/102-0059559-6416928 (CD), or store.soundstrue.com/aw00583d.html (CD).

The web is full of sites offering information and exercises that are helpful in teaching exercises and techniques that will help you to slow your breathing and make each breath more productive.

Here are some of the more basic breathing techniques I found that you might find helpful:

BREATHING by Marianne Ross,Ph.D
www.selfhelpmagazine.com/articles/stress/breath.htm
From: The Wellness Workbook. Travis, MD & Ryan; Ten Speed Press, 1988

Try this exercise sitting, standing and lying down.

1. Exhale deeply, contracting the belly.
2. Inhale slowly as you expand the abdomen.
3. Continue inhaling as you expand the chest.
4. Continue inhaling as you raise the shoulders up towards your ears.
5. Hold for a few comfortable seconds
6. Exhale in reverse pattern, slowly. Release shoulders, relax chest, contract the belly.
7. Repeat.

Quick and Easy Stress Management Breathing Exercise:

• Sit down or lie down.
• Inhale slowly and say to yourself I am...
• Exhale slowly and say to yourself relaxed.

Breathing is not something you DO. Rather it is something which you ALLOW. The problem is that we don't allow our breathing to occur smoothly and naturally.

University of Michigan Health System http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/aha/aha_breathex_sha.htm

Pursed lip breathing (when you are short of breath)

• Relax your neck and shoulder muscles.
• Breathe in slowly through your nose for 2 or 3 counts (count 1, 2, 3)
• Purse your lips as if you were going to whistle.
• Breathe out gently through pursed lips twice as long as you breathed in. Let the air escape naturally and don't force the air out of your lungs.
• Keep doing pursed lip breathing until you are not short of breath.

Deep breathing

• Sit or stand, pull your elbows back firmly, and inhale deeply.
• Hold your breath for 5 counts.
• Exhale slowly and completely.

Diaphragm breathing

• Lie on your back with your knees bent and supported by pillows.
• Place your fingers on your belly just below your ribcage.
• As you inhale deeply, your belly and lower ribs should rise while your chest remains fairly still. Inhale for a count of 3 and exhale for a count of 6. Slightly puckering your lips can help you exhale slowly.

With practice, you should be able to use diaphragm breathing to take a dozen such breaths without tiring. When you have mastered this, try it standing. Finally, practice it while walking or even climbing stairs. You may also try it with your lips puckered while you inhale.



MindTools.com
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTCS_05.htm

The techniques we will look at are Deep Breathing, Progressive Muscular Relaxation and “The Relaxation Response”.

Deep Breathing
Deep breathing is a simple, but very effective, method of relaxation. It is a core component of everything from the "take ten deep breaths" approach to calming someone down, right through to yoga relaxation and Zen meditation. It works well in conjunction with other relaxation techniques such as Progressive Muscular Relaxation, relaxation imagery and meditation to reduce stress.

To use the technique, take a number of deep breaths and relax your body further with each breath. That's all there is to it!

Progressive Muscular Relaxation
Progressive Muscular Relaxation is useful for relaxing your body when your muscles are tense. The idea behind PMR is that you tense up a group of muscles so that they are as tightly contracted as possible. Hold them in a state of extreme tension for a few seconds. Then, relax the muscles normally. Then, consciously relax the muscles even further so that you are as relaxed as possible. By tensing your muscles first, you will find that you are able to relax your muscles more than would be the case if you tried to relax your muscles directly.

Experiment with PMR by forming a fist, and clenching your hand as tight as you can for a few seconds. Relax your hand to its previous tension, and then consciously relax it again so that it is as loose as possible. You should feel deep relaxation in your hand muscles.

The Relaxation Response
‘The Relaxation Response’ is the name of a book published by Dr Herbert Benson of Harvard University in 1968. In a series of experiments into various popular meditation techniques, Dr. Benson established that these techniques had a very real effect on reducing stress and controlling the fight-or-flight response. Direct effects included deep relaxation, slowed heartbeat and breathing, reduced oxygen consumption and increased skin resistance.

• Sit quietly and comfortably.
• Close your eyes.
• Start by relaxing the muscles of your feet and work up your body relaxing muscles.
• Focus your attention on your breathing.
• Breathe in deeply and then let your breath out. Count your breaths, and say the number of the breath as you let it out (this gives you something to do with your mind, helping you to avoid distraction).

Do this for ten or twenty minutes.

Other links on this site that you may find of interest include: Meditation, Visualization and Mind/Body Connection.