What I’ve Learnt About How to Breathe
The notion of breathing is a curious thing. Something we do thousands of times a day, without thought, without intention, without effort. Our first breath and our last breath… such powerful symbols of life. Yet…. if it’s such a natural and effortless thing, why is it we as humans often breathe so sub-optimally, shallow, anxiously and it feels unfulfilling? Maybe it’s only ever in a yoga class you really give intention to your breath.. Or when you feel stress and you notice you can’t seem to get enough oxygen in.
In the West we are only recently coming to understand something that’s been embedded in Eastern schools of thought for millenia… your breath is of vital importance to a healthy life. My own personal journey with my breath has been eventful! During my many bouts of chronic pain, I would be able to observe (with much frustration and anguish) that my exhale would last just a second or two, I was completely incapable of extending it — a sure sign my nervous system was in a heightened state of agitation. Over the months and years, I came to see my breath as a gateway to a reduction in my pain. If I could relax enough, enter a meditative state, I would feel my pain slowly ebb away. It was this realisation that led me to undertake a Breathwork and Pranayama training course over the last few months. I wanted to go deeper. Understand what was happening to me and in time, I began to hope I might help others on a similar path. Here are four things I’ve learned that have helped me to breathe easier.
Understand the Science
At the start of the course, much to my embarrassment I realised…. I knew quite little about the anatomy of breath. Yes of course I knew I had lungs. And these took in oxygen. I knew that breathing through your nose was better than your mouth… something to do with hairs in your nose…? I knew that a long exhale was better for the nervous system. And I knew that shallow chest breathing was bad. And that was about it.
If you want to have a better relationship with your breath, start by understanding what’s happening when you breathe. The main muscle associated with breathing is your diaphragm. This is a large dome-like structure that sits under your ribs. It powers 80% of the movement required to breathe. The other 20% is taken care of by the accessory or secondary muscles of respiration, mainly around your neck, shoulders and between your ribs (if you want to get technical it’s scalene, the sternocleidomastoid, the pectoralis major, the trapezius, and the external intercostals). When you inhale, your diaphragm contracts, your ribs expand to make space for your lungs to expand, this motion creates a vacuum, which pulls air into the lungs. Now, when you exhale, you will see your diaphragm relax and return to its dome-like shape, and this motion forces air out of the lungs. It’s an incredible amount of movement throughout your entire torso, front and back — it’s easy to forget we are 3D!
Why am I telling you all of this? If you want to understand what happens when breathing is shallow, laboured and suboptimal, you need to understand what it should look like. If you watch the abdomen of a small child, and compare it to an adult, the movement looks more pronounced because their diaphragm is working harder… which is a good thing! When your diaphragm stops contracting to its full potential, the accessory muscles step in, they aren’t designed to take more of the load so they get tired, and you get neck and back ache. But I bet you never realise the leading cause is how you’re breathing!
2. Learn to pick up on the nuance of your breath
Once you’ve got the science bit… The next thing that will help you is to learn to observe your breathing like never before. Pranayama means breath-control. Why would you seek to change something you don’t really understand?
Start to watch your body being breathed. Notice the quality of your breath, the inhale, pause at the top of the inhale, the exhale, the pause at the end of the exhale. Ask yourself how they feel? And know that this changes throughout the day and day to day. Look at the length. Look at the parts of the body that you feel engaged in breathing. Put your hands on your clavicle, chest, ribs, abdomen, around your neck and back. Where do you feel your breath? Knowing that this is completely unique to you. And notice how it makes you feel? Is your breathing calming or invigorating? What happens during moments of stress, and what happens during moments of calm.
Learn to decipher what your breathing is telling you about your mental and physical state.
3. Use your hands and exhale through your mouth
When you’re looking to really connect with your breathing. The placement of your hands can be such a helpful aid. If you want to see if you’re doing diaphragmatic breathing, gently rest your hands there. The feedback will help you to connect with what you’re doing, and you’ll notice the changes when your breathing is more shallow.
If, like me, your exhale is short and you know you’re a bit agitated. My tip is to gently part your lips and exhale slowly from the mouth. I like to imagine you’re gently blowing a paper boat on the water, too hard and the boat will capsize. Through this technique you might be amazed that you’re able to extend your exhale to greater counts. Continue to inhale through your nose and subtly exhale through your mouth for as long as it takes to feel yourself start to relax. Another thing to try here would be an ujjayi breath, the soft constriction of your throat, it should be quiet and subtle. This might also be a tool to help you extend your exhale.
4. Practice. Practice. Practice
My final point is about frequency and regularity. In modern life we all want a quick fix… a “hack.” There are no quick fixes in this area. It’s really a lifelong practice. But with consistency, patience and kindness, you can learn so much about the role of your breath in your life. Learning to breathe more fully can result in increased lung capacity, reduced stress and anxiety, better sleep, better digestion, pain management, lower blood pressure, increased muscle tone, boost concentration and mental function… honestly there’s barely any area of your body it doesn’t impact.
“Breathing is not only the process of inhaling and exhaling; it’s a reminder that every breath we take is a gift of life.”
So these are some of the approaches I take with my own breathwork, I hope it’s interesting and helpful for you with your own journey.
Comments are open if you want to tell me what you think!