Just Breathe

Stop what you’re doing and join me in a quick activity that will change your overall state right now. First, take a normal breath. Then try a deep breath: Breathe in slowly through your nose, allowing your chest and lower belly to rise as you fill your lungs and let your abdomen expand fully. Now breathe out slowly through your mouth (or your nose, if that feels more natural). Feel a bit more relaxed? Let’s dive into why and what other ways breath can be so powerful. 

Breath is something we cannot live without. Our bodies automatically pump air through our nasal cavity down into our lungs filling them up and then expelling that air back out through the nostrils or mouth. Breath has a dual role it not only to calm anxiety and stress, but it can also enhance physical performance during a workout. This is called breath-body connection. Controlled breathing can cause physiological changes that include:

·      lowered blood pressure and heart rate

·      reduced levels of stress hormones in the blood

·      reduced lactic acid build-up in muscle tissue

Stress & Anxiety:

When you start feeling anxious or stressed your breath starts to become shallow and rapid raising your heart rate. This can prolong your feelings of anxiety by making the physical symptoms of stress worse. Learning how to control your breathing can help to improve it.

A technique that can be used is called diaphragmatic breathing. When practicing this type of breathing, the stomach rather than the chest, moves with each breath expanding while inhaling and contracting while exhaling. Deliberately paying attention to each breath serves to distract a quiet the mind. When you are doing this, you are activating the body’s relaxation response.

Once or twice a day for 10 to 20 minutes. Sit in a relaxed position, eyes closed, and repeat a word or sound as you breathe. It can help regulate emotions and reduce anxiety.

Working out:

In the physical field, you can enhance your workouts with proper breathing. Breath control is very important, I myself found this helpful in a workout class that I knew would kick my ass. I tested it out before I felt exhausted and out of breath and it helped lengthen the enjoyment of my workout instead of feeling like I was going to pass out.

During exercise, two of the important organs of the body come into action: the heart and the lungs. The lungs bring oxygen into the body, to provide energy, and remove carbon dioxide, the waste product created when you produce energy. The heart pumps the oxygen to the muscles that are doing the exercise.

Mindful breathing can improve endurance, focus, and performance. Some tips on using breath to optimize workouts and prevent breathlessness are:

·      Diaphragmatic breathing (like mentioned above). Deep abdominal breathing strengthens the muscles that support breathing and allows you to take in more air

·      Breathing exercises. Take time to focus solely on your breath

·      Focus on form

·      Breathe rhythmically

·      Inhale fresh air

Mindfulness:

Breath is not only important to be able to make it through your cardio workout, you can also utilize the breath to practice mindfulness. This takes place during yoga breathing, breathwork yoga, or pranayama. They area various exercises that are practiced on their own or as part of yoga. Prana-what? Pranayama is the practice of breath regulation. It’s a main component of yoga, an exercise for physical and mental wellness. In Sanskrit, “prana” means life energy and “yama” means control. The practice of pranayama involves breathing exercises and patterns.

The most common used in yoga classes that I’ve taken is UJJAYI breathing. Ujjayi means victorious breath; it’s also referred to as ocean breath due to the sound it creates. This breath is often used in asana (posture) practice, especially in ashtanga and vinyasa classes. Ujjayi encourages full expansion of the lungs, and, by focusing your attention on your breath, it can assist in calming the mind.

How to do ujjayi breathing:

Take a steady breath in through both nostrils. Inhale until you reach your lung capacity; maintain a tall spine. Hold your breath for a second, then constrict some of the breath at the back of your throat, as if you were to fog up a window/mirror, and exhale slowly through both nostrils. Nice job! Did you feel like Darth Vader?

There are a various other techniques that I could get into but that will be on another blog in the near future, stay tuned! 

JUST BREATHE

Obviously you knew it is an important aspect of life when you started reading the blog but how amazed are you at all the benefits a technique our body already knows how to do can make such a powerful impact just in your day to day life? This simple task can help manage anxiety, stress and your physical performance.  I encourage you to integrate conscious breathing into your routines for overall well-being and productivity.

Side note: A Life Worth Breathing by internationally renowned yoga teacher and spiritual philosopher Max Strom is a book I HIGHLY recommended. It offers us a path to transformation with insights on forgiveness, gratitude, and self-empowerment. “If you don’t have 30 minutes to meditate, you should be meditating for an hour.” 

Side note note: Breathwork classes are a great place to learn and set aside dedicated time/space for mindfulness as well. Join Jessica Otter at Pure Yoga and Wellness in Atascadero, CA for her breathwork and meditation weekly classes. www.pureyogaandwellness.com