Becoming Your Breath

Nowadays, the importance of conscious breathing has also reached healthcare.
In this article below it shows how much influence it has on our bodies and our health.

Note: This article has not included anything about the way we create our reality with our consciousness, or how our Soul’s breath influences our daily lives…



“Conscious Breathing” from the magazine: Healthy VGZ (one of the leading Dutch Health Insurance Agencies)



* Introduction
* How it works
* Fast breathing exercise
* Practice makes perfect
* More Information



Introduction

If you are feeling stress, your body prepares itself for a situation where it must fight or run away. This had many advantages in prehistoric times, but is now “a bit” exaggerated. Through conscious breathing, you can put your breath to work, in order to relax in moments of stress.
How it works…

Mindful*) breathing you can learn in a few steps:

1. Notice how you prefer to breathe: through the abdomen or your chest. Research this by lying on your bed with one hand on your belly and one hand on your chest. If the hand on your belly goes up with each breath, than you have a belly breathing (go to step 3). If your hand on your chest goes up with each breath than you have a chest breathing (go to step 2).
2. You have, like most Dutch people, a chest breathing. With this type of breathing, the use of your lungs is not optimal. You give them not enough space to suck up the fresh air and to fill up fully.
This gives a tight feeling which causes you to breathe faster and shallower.
This is because your body associates this way of breathing with anxiety. It will make every effort so you can respond appropriately (fighting or running away) to the risk that you’re afraid of.
Your heart rate goes up and your muscles tighten.
It is better to learn a belly breathing. Go and lie down again with one hand on your belly and one hand on your chest. Try to breathe so that the hand on your chest is stationary and the hand on your abdomen rises with each inhalation. If this is successful, proceed to Step 3.
3. You have a belly breathing. As your belly expands during this breathing, the diaphragm can fall well down and your lungs can fill themselves best, fully with air. Your body associates this way of breathing with peace and relaxation. Check during different times of the day if you are still having a belly breathing in that moment. Do you find yourself chest breathing, than make some conscious belly breathings. If you do keep doing this for a few days or weeks, you will notice that you increasingly have a belly breathing. At that point you can proceed to step 4.
4. In this step, you learn to breathe consciously in stress situations. If you are stressed, your body prepares itself to fight or run away. Your heart rate and breathing are going faster and you are breathing through your chest. In our time, stress has not so much more to do with fighting or running away.
The stress is usually in the head and the body remains inactive. For example, you sit behind the computer and you are terribly worried about a deadline that you are not going to make. The reaction of your body is not appropriate – you will not fight or run away – and it is counterproductive.
Because you are breathing through your chest, you just feel more stress.
In this situation some people lose control over their breathing and start to hyperventilate.
You can avoid this rise in stress by starting to breathe consciously through your belly.
For example, during a heated discussion at work, try to take a deep breath from your belly before you say or do something. Or have a short breathing exercise (see below) before an important presentation.

Short breathing exercise

Under the influence of stress, the rhythm of your breath becomes faster and shallower. Your belly does not move along and you are breathing from your chest. Through the following brief breathing exercise you can learn to deepen your breathing to abdominal breathing:

Breathe deeply through your nose, feel your belly move and think ‘in’ (make the word as long as the inhalation takes, so there is no room for other thoughts: innn). Then exhale slowly through your mouth and think “out” (again as long as the exhale lasts: ouuuut). Feel, while this continues, how the tension disappears from your body with each exhalation and how with each inhale calmness returns in your body. If you feel relaxed again or if you have at least the power needed to cope with the remaining stress,
then you are finished with the practice … Practice makes perfect.

If you follow the steps above, you will notice that you are getting better at it. You will breathe more often through your abdomen and you will be able to use your breathing in stressful situations to calm down.
Do not be discouraged if things get worse for a while, dedication is the magic word.



Copyright Medicinfo – 06-09-2010
This article can be found in Dutch on this link
English translation by Erno van Doesselaar

*) The word “Mindful” is a beautiful translation of the word “conscious” from Dutch into English.
I felt that especially in the context of this article the word mindful breathing was very appropriate,
as it is only about controlling the breath and training the breath with the mind, instead of allowing your soul to breathe you.



As certifed New Breath teacher I do not recommend these breathing exercises.
This article has been included to show how the regular health services DO also acknowledge the importance of a belly breathing. I found it very interesting as it gives extra value to conscious breathing…