How do you preserve your inner well-being through this emotional and stressful time?
Breathe.
Yes, breathe deeply and well.
A long time ago I used to sing, and one of my favorite teachers would have me start my lesson by lying on the floor, on my back, taking deep breaths. Each new breath would be deeper than the previous one. This could take up to 20 minutes. In the beginning she would have her hand under my back to feel when my breath when my breath was deep enough that my back would expand, over time she taught me to become aware of when my breath was expanding into my back so I could feel that I was breathing correctly. I had to breathe into my back, feel my back expand, then I stood up, and worked to achieve the same depth of breathing, with feeling my back expand. In the beginning of my study of singing, these breathing exercise often made me light headed because I just wasn’t accustomed to taking in so much air. Over time, it got a lot easier. After each lesson my teacher would often say, “Don’t you feel better after you sing? You know, it’s because we breathe deeply when we sing, and we release all of our emotional baggage.” In the world of singing, this is known as diaphragmatic breathing.
What is a deep breath?
Typically people tend to breathe with shallow breaths. When we breathe deeply our shoulders will remain down and not hike up to our ears. When we breathe deeply, we breathe from our bellies (you may have heard ‘breathe from your diaphragm’) our abdomen literally expands so much that our sides and backs expand at the same time. We become balloon like.
If you’ve been breathing shallow breaths your entire life, it may take a while before you’ll feel the full balloon action happening. Just keep working towards it.
To find out if you’re a shallow breather :
- Put your palms against your lower abdomen and blow out all the air.
- Now, take a big breath.
- If your abdomen expands (balloon like) when you inhale, and air seems to flow in deeply, you’re on the right track to breathing deeply.
- If your abdomen scoops inward (like sucking in your tummy) that’s a shallow breath, and most likely your shoulders reach up towards your ears.
Now let’s begin:
Either sit in a chair or lie on your back when you do this. I recommend lying on the floor.
If you have someone with you who can watch that your shoulders do not rise, and can have their hand on your back to feel your back expand, that would be great! If you don’t, then bring your mind’s attention to your shoulders, your belly, your sides and your back and see if you can be your own guide.
Using the outline below of Feel, Count, Focus, take five slow deep breaths. The reason for 5 is that you give yourself five opportunities to have your deepest breath. On each of the five breath cycles
- Feel – On breath number six (you just took five deep breaths) Put your hands on around your waist and feel what happens as you inhale. Do you feel your sides expand, your stomachs expand and do you feel your back expand?
- Count– Try breathing in for a slow count of four, pause for two counts at the top of your inhale, and exhale for a slow count of four. On each new breath try to increase by one count, so on breath cycle number two you inhale for a slow count of four, hold for a count of two or three, and exhale for a slow count of five. By your 5th breath you are inhaling for a slow count of nine, pause, and exhale for a slow count of nine. Do this within reason, if you feel light headed, stay with a smaller duration such as a four count. It may take you a while before you can build up to longer deeper breaths.
- Focus – Be sure to focus just on your breath and the count. See if you can be free from excess wandering thoughts. Try visualizing the numbers as your count, give them a specific color. The more you can keep your mind focused on your breath, the less wandering thoughts you have, this strengthens your mindful state, and your ability to be completely present in the moment – connecting your mind and body.
- Notice – Notice how you feel after your fifth breath, the one that you had a nice long count inhale, a pause, and a long count exhale.
Do you feel more centered, relaxed, and mindful of your body and thoughts?
Throughout the day, at any given moment, find moments to stop and give you the gift of 5 consecutive deep breaths.
This deep breathing will release a large amount of tension. You might feel a bit light headed if you’re not used to breathing deeply. And don’t be surprised if deep slow breaths bring tears to your eyes, deep breathing releases emotions. Let it flow out.
This type of healthy deep breathing will activate a mindful state, and you’ll be more aware, more conscious, and more present in the moment. This state of mindfulness and acute awareness often lifts one up out of any negative emotions simply by bringing one’s attention to the present moment, and filling your awareness with the depth of just being in the here and now.
Just work with the 5 deep breaths. It’s a great way to snap out of stress and other negative states of being.
If you really enjoy the therapeutic nature of breathing deeply, you may want to continue beyond just 5 breath cycles working your way up to one minute, then work up to five minutes, then work up to ten minutes.
Remember, the reason for 5 breaths, is that you give yourself 5 opportunities to have your deepest breath.