Are you breathing effectively? How do you know? Take a moment right now, to feel where your breath is in your body. Can you feel its movement at all? Chances are if you're working away, you will feel it in the front of the chest or throat area. Maybe some of you can direct the breath deep down to the lower belly. Yogis are used to the concept of belly breathing, and the full yogic breath expands into the lowest part of the belly, the side ribs and right up to the chest.
BUT can you feel the breath in the back body? That is the crucial part. We have more lung tissue at the back of the lungs and expanding the breath into the back body helps us to breathe deeper and, importantly, into the lowest part of the lungs. Breathing deeply and slowly brings more oxygen into the body, and calms the mind, helping you when you feel anxious, as many of us feel right now. ALSO, breathing deeply into the back body really helps us with our posture. Breathing can shape our bodies, just as exercise can. And, improving your posture can help your breath.
Posture and Breath
Yoga and other exercise that address your posture can also help with your breathing. Hunching forward over computers, slouching on the sofa or over a table can create structural changes in our chest cavity making our chest cage smaller and less flexible and then we are less able to expand our breath fully. So it is a spiral.
These changes can also occur over time, and through conditions such as thinning bones and osteoporosis, according to Harvard Medical school "This makes it harder for your chest to fully expand when you breathe and reduces the volume of air your lungs can hold. Your diaphragm, the muscle that supports breathing, also can weaken with age and prevent you from taking in full breaths." Apart from addressing posture (and eating a healthy diet) they also recommend addressing "exercises to raise your heart rate and makes you breathe harder ...can help improve lung capacity."
SIT UP AND BREATHE
SEAT: A simple breathing practice you can try anytime, right now:
Sit with a lengthened, upright spine. My favourite seated posture for this is kneeling.
You might need props between your knees and under your sitting bones if kneeling is uncomfortable. This is known as Vajrasana, thunderbolt pose. Your spine is tall like a thunderbolt. Vajra can also mean diamond. (If kneeling is not for you, sit on a chair, stool, cross-legged, whatever you like).
HANDS: As a lover of mudras (hand positions which help to focus the mind) I'll invite you to bring your hands into Vajarapradama mudra, which helps you to feel the expansion of breath into side and back body.
This
is known as the mudra of unshakeable trust, helping us to develop self
confidence and trust in ourselves and the universe. In the Buddhist
tradition, it helps us to develop clarity and clears our energy body,
reflecting the diamond connotations - we are clear and bright like a diamond.Bring your hands together, palms facing you, in front of the heart. Interlace the four fingers gently and keep the thumbs separate pointing straight up to the sky.
BREATHE:
Take your attention to your breath. Breathing in and out through the nose if you can. Let the shoulders soften, relax the face. Hold the hands a few centimetres away from your body in front of your heart. On an inhale, imagine you are gently pulling the fingers apart, but keep them softly interlaced. Feel the breath expanding into the sides and back of the chest cavity.
On an exhale, feel the contraction as your hands soften and everything draws back to the centre. You might feel your T-shirt suddenly feels looser. Feel the sitting bones and thighs release down as you drop the weight down into the Earth/your support.
Keep going. Can you feel your upper back expand and move as you breathe a full 360 degrees around through the chest? I find it helpful to visualise wings expanding from the centre of the upper back (behind the heart area) as I inhale, gently drawing the fingers and hands away from each other (without letting go!), and a gathering in of the energy as I exhale,almost as if those wings were folding back in.
EXPERIMENT AND FEEL
You do not need to use the mudra. Try bringing your hands softly to the outer edges of your ribcage and feel the breath expanding into the hands as you inhale, widening across the back. Then feeling the breath and body recede on the exhale.
As you continue, you might notice your thoughts have stopped racing and you feel calmer, more relaxed ;)
You also might notice your inhales and exhales last a little longer. Simply focusing on lengthening the exhale is a valuable way of reducing anxiety, and that sense of being so busy you don't know where to start!
EQUAL BREATHING
Now you could try developing Sama vritti - Sama means equal, vritti is movement (of the mind or breath). So it is equal breathing.
Research has shown that breathing in and out for a count of 6 is the most effective ratio to equalise the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems and calm the nervous system, reducing stress. However, it may be hard to do, especially for those suffering from breathing difficulties and conditions*, such as asthma, or during pregnancy, so just notice the length of your inhale and exhale and maybe try to build up from breathing in for 3 and out for 3, then gradually increasing to 4, then 5 and six. Please stop if you feel tight-chested, dizzy or unwell or struggle for breath. Do not force it!
Try to stay seated, watching the breath for a few minutes, as is comfortable, and then let go of the control of the breath and notice any affects. Has your breath deepened? How are your thought patterns and focus? Check in with your body emotionally.
*As always, you could check with your doctor if you do have any conditions
