Just Breathe!
The Impact Of Breathing Through Your Day
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There is a right way and a wrong way to breathe.
It is essential that we take more & better breaths!
You’ve probably noticed that your breathing changes depending on your mood. When you’re feeling anxious, you might hyperventilate, and when you’re feeling relaxed, your breathing feels leisurely and relaxed, too. But what if you’ve been thinking about breathing in the wrong way? What if, as well as your mood affecting your breathing, your breathing also affects your mood? In this blog, you’ll learn how the way you breathe throughout the day has a big impact on your mental and physical health. But, unfortunately, many of us breathe poorly. This leads to big problems for our well-being.
Did you know if you can start taking better breaths, you could create a happier, healthier you? You’ll learn fascinating health insights and straightforward exercises. Think of this blog as your beginner’s guide to controlling your breath through yoga meditation. If you apply the advice, it’ll help you feel calmer and less stressed – all the time.
In this blog, you’ll learn
• How to fill your lungs to maximum capacity;
• Why inefficient breathing is bad for your mental health; and
• How you can achieve nasal balance.
What advice would you give to someone who needs to calm down? You might tell him to take a deep breath. Yoga practitioners have known about the relationship between breathing and consciousness for thousands of years. In fact, working with your breath is an essential part of the yoga tradition. This practice is known as pranayama, derived from the Sanskrit words Prana, meaning “breath,” and Ayama, meaning “control.”
Pranayama is thought to have originated with Brahman priests – ancient holy men who worshipped by chanting hymns known as the Vedas. These priests realized that if they controlled their breathing during their chanting, they could recite the Vedas with more force. Even more crucially, breathing differently let them alter their states of mind.
But the benefits of practicing pranayama go far beyond ancient worship. We live in a hectic world where many of us spend hours hunched over a desk. Pranayama can provide a blissful antidote to stress and ill health.
The key message here is: There is a right way and a wrong way to breathe.
Incorrect breathing often stems from poor posture, weak respiratory muscles, or simply chronic stress.
So what does bad breathing look like?
Inefficient breathers take quick, shallow breaths, and they primarily use their mouths to breathe. We’ve all had moments of panic and hyperventilation, but breathing inefficiently on a regular basis can cause big problems for your body. Fast, shallow breaths lower the amount of carbon dioxide in your circulatory system. This slows down the circulation of oxygen in your brain and body. The result? Poor oxygenation causes racing or irregular heartbeat and chronic anxiety. It can even make you confused and forgetful.
On the other hand, breathing in the right way leaves you feeling instantly revitalized.
Efficient breathers take slow, streamlined breaths. Unlike bad breathers, who breathe from their upper chest, efficient breathers breathe from their entire diaphragm and torso. They also breathe through the nose, rather than the mouth. Nose breathing slows your breath down, and it allows your lungs to extract plenty of oxygen with each inhalation. This keeps your body at a healthy oxygen-to-carbon-dioxide ratio, and it leaves you with a clear head and a calmer state of mind.
This is how you should prepare to start your pranayama journey to healthier breathing.
You should enter your pranayama practice in a calm state of mind.
Pranayama means learning how to control your breath, but that’s not all there is to this ancient practice. As part of the yoga tradition, pranayama is accompanied by certain rituals that you should observe. These simple rituals, as well as breath control, will form a key part of your practice.
The most basic pranayama rituals are concerned with regularity, time, and space.
Yoga tradition emphasizes the importance of regularity. You should aim to practice pranayama seven days a week, though you can take one or two days off if you must. The optimal time to practice pranayama is during the hour of Brahma – that’s the period just before sunrise. During Brahma, your mind and body are tranquil and revitalized from sleep, and the atmosphere is charged with cosmic energy. If this early morning routine isn’t possible, then you can pick another time. The most important thing is to practice at the same time each day.
The key idea here is: You should enter your pranayama practice in a relaxed state of mind.
You should dedicate a physical space to your pranayama practice. Choose a room that feels peaceful and secure. Go to your practice wearing loose, comfortable clothes, and with an empty stomach, so digestion won’t distract you.
Starting calmly is essential because concentrating on your breath is difficult if you’re feeling angry or sad. You can calm yourself down by adding a brief opening ritual to the beginning of each session. Start this ritual by facing east. This is the direction from which the sun rises, and yogis also consider the east to be the repository of the world’s soul. Then, spend a few minutes in silence. Take this time to consider how you will dedicate your practice to the divine.
More practical considerations are important, too. Don’t forget that you will be breathing through your nostrils throughout your pranayama practice. That means you’ll need to unblock your sinuses if they feel congested. You can do this by making a nasal wash from warm water and salt. Administer this wash using a neti pot, a small ceramic pot with a long spout.
It's also a good idea to keep a diary of your pranayama journey. Reflecting on your practice this way will enable you to adjust course along the way, continuing with what’s working for you, and disregarding what’s not.
Yoga is much more about spiritual well-being than it is physical fitness.
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