I’ve been spending a lot of time breathing recently. That sounds pretty dumb, doesn’t it? What’s the big deal about breathing since we do it all day long? If you watch a baby breathe, you will see that she breathes differently from the way you and I do. She breathes the way we were born to breathe – but lose along our way through life. Stress, repressing our emotions, terrible eating and exercise habits and a million other factors go into damaging our natural breath pattern.
But breathing correctly can dramatically transform our lives and I’ve been reading the books from the DVD, pictured left, called How To Breathe: 21 Classic Books. There is so much information in there that it’s rather overwhelming but I’ve learned some breaths that I’ve been practicing and I’m willing to share 8 of them below. They’re yoga breaths and yoga masters know a lot, a lot, a lot about breathing.
8 Yoga Breaths and How To Do Them
These patterns work best if you can be around a clock of time piece that times your breathing, rather than counting or guessing. For instance, I have a clock here in my office and I just count along with it. Of course, if you don’t have that kind of rhythmic sound, count as best you can.
Also, the numbers should be changed based on how well you breathe. For instance, if you try an exercise that has a 6 or 8 count in it and you can’t hold your breath that long, reduce all four numbers in a ratio, as best you can. Of course, if you’re a Super Champion Breather, by all means extend your times.
4 Relaxing Breaths
Inhalation | Hold | Exhalation | Hold |
4 | 1 | 8 | 4 |
4 | 1 | 12 | 1 |
6 | 1 | 10 | 1 |
6 | 1 | 8 | 4 |
2 Energizing Breaths
6 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
6 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
2 Balancing Breaths
8 | 1 | 8 | 1 |
6 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
Note: a ‘balancing’ breath is great when you’re stressed because holding your inhalation can make you more tensed so you’re better off using the balancing breath. Then, when your breath is more stable, you can add the energizing or relaxing breath if you so desire.
The How To Breathe: 21 Classic Books DVD will give you incredible amounts of information so if this is an interest of yours, start learning now. The rewards are enormous!
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