Breathing…we breathe in and out every day. We don’t have to think about it…our body just does it. My good friend (Hi April) said recently, “I don’t think I’ve stopped to breathe all day.” We breathe…but do we BREATHE. There have been many moments where I caught myself holding my breath. Because what happens when we are stressed? Our heart rate increases, making our need for oxygen rise, so then our respiratory rate increases, thus sending us into the land of the “shallow breath.”
Did you know that breathing deeply is a practice? It’s not something that really comes naturally. That’s why, in EVERY class, we take about 5 FULL minutes to come into our “yoga breath.” I say to my students, that if you show up and BREATHE, then you’ve been successful. Because as a culture, we don’t breathe deeply. We are on the go constantly, rushing around, stressed without even realizing we are stressed. And we lose our breath. A favorite instructor of mine (Hi Kelly) gave me the greatest gift when she taught me how to really breathe. She called it the “ujayi breath.” (oo-jy-e) And depending on what class you go to, you may be taught a different way to breathe. But this is what I know, so this is what I teach. So…I would like to teach you, dear reader, how to breathe. How to reeaallyy breathe.
So find a comfortable seated posture wherever you are. Close your eyes. Draw the shoulders up to the ears, and then slide the shoulder blades down the back, drawing the shoulder blades back towards one another (picture yourself holding a pencil between the shoulder blades).
Start to listen to the sound of your breath. Listen to yourself breathing IN and OUT. Now…
Take a deep breath in through the nose, and then sigh loudly out through the mouth, “hhhhaaaa.” (Put some sound behind it…go ahead. No one is looking. Do it again.) Take a long breath in, again through the nose, but this time try closing the mouth (breathing out through the nose) on the exhale, but keeping the “ha” sound. I also like to tell my students to place the tongue behind the top row of teeth-this helps to open the throat.
Now-bring your attention to your shoulders. Are they rising with your breath? Keep the shoulder blades down and start to breathe FROM THE BELLY.
So as you inhale through the nose, expand the belly so that the belly button moves away from the spine. Keep expanding the belly until you can’t breathe in anymore. As you exhale, the belly moves back in towards the spine.
Now-repeat ALL of this, but this time try to lengthen your breath. (I like to count-to maybe 4 or 5-but it’s always ok to just start with 2 or 3, trying to lengthen your breath each time.) See how loooong you can make each inhale and exhale.
Do it again. And again. And again.
This, my friend, THIS breath is SOOO beneficial. If you can do this for just a few minutes a day, it WILL become easier and easier. Now I find myself breathing deeply when I’m stressed-and I’m not even trying to. My body knows by now what it needs to do to become calm.
So practice this. I like to practice my breath in the car or when I’m praying (which I also usually do in the car). I especially start my “yoga breathing” on the way to class.
So there you go. Breathe deeply my friends.