What is breathing?
Of course we all know what breathing is. We all do it, all the time, even if we’re not aware of it.
But the interesting thing of breathing is that in a way we can’t control it (we will continue breathing until our last breath, even if we wouldn’t want it), but on the other hand we can control it. We can consciously breath longer, faster or slower and hold the breath for a while.
You can say that the breath is the bridge between that what we can control and that what we can’t control (the inner and the outer world).
You could say that a breath exists out of 4 steps:
– Inhalation
– Inner retention (holding the breath whilst having air in the lungs)
– Exhalation
– Outer retention (holding the breath without having air in the lungs)
If you pay attention close enough, you will notice that between every inbreath and outbreath there’s a short pause. In this short pause you drop any effort for a split second, you could say.
The importance of proper breathing
“When you start breathing properly, you’ll solve half of your problems.”
This is what one of my teachers said.
“Begin to breath” is also the quote of my yoga school in India.
It was then that I started to become more aware of my breathing.
This was quite confronting. I noticed that half of the time I was breathing very shallow.
I was (and still am sometimes) not using my full capacity or not breathing from my abdomen, but higher in my chest. Even when I should be in a relaxed state.
The breath is the start of everything. Even in yoga: the breath comes always first, then the movement.
It should be like this in your whole life for you to become healthier and happier.
The breath is so important.
Breathing in relaxed state vs stressed state
When we’re in a relaxed state, we naturally breath from our belly, our abdomen. We’re often so used to be in a rushed or stressed state, that we breath from our chest. Or at least we don’t take deep breaths, but very shallow breaths. So, when you learn to relax more during the day, you will naturally start breathing from your belly. But it’s also the other way around: if you practice to breath more from your belly, you will naturally become more relaxed.
Why is shallow breathing not right?
When your breath becomes too shallow and you have too many short in -and out breaths (also with hyperventilating), your body will take up more oxygen in the blood. This seems right, but there should always be a right balance between oxygen and CO2. Whenever there’s too much oxygen in the blood, it will hold the oxygen there, instead of spreading it throughout the cells. This can cause serious health problems.
That’s the reason you have to breath into a bag when you’re hyperventilating, to get more CO2 in your system again!
The help of breathing exercises
Of course, there’s plenty of breathing exercises to practice with your breathing.
If you want some guidance, you can find some of my practices here.
Breathing happens by itself, we are “being breathed”. But it’s something that we can easily take control of, if we focus our attention to it and if we practice with breathing consciously.
Practicing breathing exercises frequently and becoming more aware of your breath in daily life, can have a lot of benefits. It can boost your immunity and digestive system, calm your mind, reduce stress and anxiety and it can support in healing from all sorts of other issues or diseases (like heart problems and insomnia).
Apparently, the breath has such profound impact on our body and mind, because the brain fast tracks messages from the lungs above all the other organs. Isn’t that incredible!
Some daily tips for proper breathing
- Just simply become aware of your breath
For me, the start of becoming simply conscious of my breathing helped me in becoming calmer and breathing more properly. Because I’m seeing the importance, I start to become more aware at random moments in my day. For example when I’m waiting for a train, or even when I’m sitting behind my laptop or looking on my phone. You can still do whatever you’re doing, while knowing that you’re breathing. If you struggle to be aware of your breath (especially in the beginning), you can always give yourself reminders by setting timers at specific times for example. Or leave a note in a place where you know you will see it often. “Note to self: Begin to breath!” - Breathing trough your nose
Breathing through your nose is better than breathing through your mouth.
It helps in filtering all the dirt and bacteria from outside and it cools or heats the air, so it will arrive in the lungs with the right temperature. It also increases our oxygen intake (even though it may seem that we can breathe in more with our mouth!).
Mouth breathing makes us less smart (we develop fewer brain cells) and it is bad for our teeth. It can cause gum disease and bad breath. - Slow down your breath
Based on yogic science, breathing close to 6-7 breaths per minute would be beneficial for us. But most people breath way faster than that, all the time. It doesn’t mean that it should always be 6-7 breaths. It is said that an average of 15 times a minute would increase your lifespan.
So, try on daily basis to extend your inhale and exhale. You can try this by yourself, or you can follow this guided coherent breathing practice.
Inspiration for contemplation
“The air that you breath is nature, as is the breathing process itself.
Bring your attention to your breathing and realize that you are not doing it. It is the breath of nature. If you had to remember to breath, you would soon die, and if you tried to stop breathing, nature would prevail.
You reconnect with nature in the most intimate and powerful way by becoming aware of your breathing and learning to hold your attention there. This is a healing and deeply empowering thing to do. It brings about a shift in consciousness from the conceptual world of thought to the inner realm of unconditioned consciousness.”
– Eckhart Tolle | Stillness Speaks
The information in this article is based on my own experiences, my yoga and meditation teacher training and the book Wake up to sleep from Charley Morley.
