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"Practising regular, mindful breathing can be calming and energizing and can even help with stress-related health problems ranging from panic attacks to digestive disorders."
Andrew Weil, M.D.
Breathing is a natural mind-programmed system that has happened since the day you were born. It’s an automatic action carried out by your body in order to provide your organs and cells with a supply of oxygen for survival and function.
According to online encyclopedia Wikipedia, humans breathe between 12–20 times per minute on average, with children breathing faster than adults. Babies may breathe from 30–60 times per minute. Teenagers may breathe 17–23 times per minute. An elderly person over 80 years old may breathe 10–30 times per minute.
We have an amazing innate ability to consciously control the ebb and flow of our breath, and when we do this in a controlled way we become more deeply relaxed. Much less stress is placed on the mind and body when we fill our bellies and lungs with deep breathing. I mention the belly because belly breathing is one of society’s most forgotten forms of therapeutic breathing. I will discuss this further in this article.
Getting into the practice of deliberate deep slow breathing will help you throughout the day with having tired, stressed or anxious moments.
Most of us go through stressful times in our lives; it may be growing up, family, friends, work, health or relationships. Just a few minutes taking the following breathing exercises will really see you through those moments of stress.
It is now time to practise the breathing exercise:
Simple x 4 Breathe In x 4 Hold x 4 Breathe Out x 4 Hold and Repeat Cycle
With this method you can be seated, stood up or laid down while ensuring you are as comfortable as possible. Now breathe in slowly through your nose and count to 4. Breathe in as deeply as possible feeling your chest and belly expand.
Breathe in slowly. Now hold for a count of 4, and then slowly exhale through your mouth for a count of 4. Hold again for a count of 4.
Start at number one above and repeat the breathing so your belly starts to expand. Hold on to your breath and then exhale 8more times.
As you practise, you can begin to breathe deeper and longer with your holding and counting.
- Once you get used to the above steps, place one hand on your stomach and place the other hand on your chest. Breathe into the belly until it expands.
When it’s full, breathe in some more and fill the lungs.
Exhaling allows all the used air out completely, infusing your cells with renewed oxygen.
Having mentioned belly breathing earlier, it’s now time for me to expand my thoughts on this form of breathing. Since the ancient yogic practices belly breathing has helped to raise alertness and pranic energy levels. My opinion on this is that belly breathing is a necessity as it helps to pump the lymph system up from the lingual areas up around all the internal abdominal organs, and when breathing is cycled with the expansion of the chest as well then this helps the lymph get processed and cleansed through the chest cavity.
Nick Parmar
www.fusiontherapy.co.uk
Tel 07733964146
Bespoke Mobile Therapies
@fusiontherapy
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respiratory_rate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breathing