Temple Breath

During the Temple Breath you are tracing a big inverted heart in the air with your fingertips. Breathe in through your nose and then exhale slowly through tightly pursed lips (as if you were making a long thin smooth “ribbon” of air). IMPORTANT! Remember that you always set up a comfortable breathing rhythm FIRST and only then match the movement to the breath.

1. Stand with your feet hip-distance apart with toes pointed forward. Keep your shoulders and neck completely relaxed especially when your arms are raised. As always, empty before you begin.
2. Join your palms in front of your chest. Inhale slowly while you are moving your joined palms up past your nose and as far overhead as you can easily reach.
3. As you blow out a breath slowly through pursed lips, separate your hands stretching them first out sideways, then downward and finally back to their starting position (palms together in front of your chest). At this point you will have completed one complete breath cycle). Continue for as long as you are comfortable.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Quick Response

Practice this exercise until you can react without thinking, without hesitation, as if you were handling your car in a skid. Reading about a skidding car will not keep you out of the ditch. In an emergency your body may not have time to phone your brain for instructions and this is a first-response exercise. It therefore requires more practice than most.

1. In the very FIRST split-second of a real or perceived crisis (physical, emotional or intellectual) BREATHE OUT IMMEDIATELY. Release as much air as is comfortable. Relax all surface tension as you exhale. Think of suddenly releasing all air and tension from a balloon.
2. After that important first exhalation, assume deep and steady breathing. Now you are focused. You are clear. You are ready. You have some oxygen in your tank.

The tendency when things get dicey is to hold your breath or take in a big gulp of air without exhaling first. This forces the incoming air down on top of stale air, air that was used up and waiting to be exhaled. You are left with a small voice, tense muscles, and an expanded chest full of useless air. This is not what you need in crisis mode.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

To Smoke Or Not To Smoke

To keep your lungs healthy, the layer of mucus that covers the windpipe and bronchial tubes must be moist enough to be pushed along easily, and the tiny pushy cilia must remain strong and busy. Infection, smoking, lack of fluids, and allergies can stun or cripple the cilia, and can alter the consistency of the mucus.

When this beautiful system is challenged, damaged, or clogged, the incoming irritants and microbes are either trapped against the wall of the respiratory tract like a dirty bandage that rarely gets changed, or the irritants find an unobstructed, direct path into the deep lungs and ultimately into the bloodstream. Without the cooperative efforts of the cilia and mucus blanket, your crippled respiratory system is finally unable to cleanse itself.
Be well. Breathe beautifully.

LINK: The Path From Throat To Lungs

Silkwind Breathing

Part of the complexity and brilliance of your pulmonary system is that your breathing changes speed in accordance with demands being placed on your body/mind at any given second. All this happens automatically (although you have the power to intervene and go from Auto to Manual when it suits you). Cool.

However, when you overburden the pulmonary system you interfere with this exquisite engineering. Your pulmonary system is brilliantly designed to handle occasional assaults but modern man is piling on errors beyond what the body can handle at this point in human evolution: stress, drugs, cigarettes, air pollution, building toxins, inactivity, too much sugar, not enough exercise. . . .

The breath should flow easily and smoothly in and out of the lungs at a speed that is appropriate for who you are, where you are and what you are doing. Notice for a moment if your breathing is steady, even and smooth as a silk ribbon sliding between your fingers. Or is it uneven and raggedy? Are you holding your breath? Does the breath feel as if it is flowing all the way down to your bellybutton or does it stop behind your second shirt button?

Slow steady smooth breathing allows your body time to do triage on the incoming air. Since breathing is the bridge that spans mind, body and spirit, steady breathing has the power to calm your nerves and make your spirit more available.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Size Matters!

The tape measure does not deceive! Remember that deep lung tissue is dedicated to the delivery of oxygen and the dumping of garbage gases like carbon dioxide. Lung tissue cannot breathe all by itself. The miniscule delicate air sacs that make up your lungs are at the mercy of respiratory muscles.

The muscles sandwiched between adjacent ribs (intercostals) and those stretched across the floor of your ribcage (diaphragm) are designed to pump and squeeze air in and out of the chest. All breathing muscles need to remain pliable and unobstructed if they are to work effectively. The passages between your nose and your lungs need to remain open and free.

What, you ask, does this have to do with a tape measure? When was the last time you actually measured your neck, your chest, and your waist? Like so many of us, you may have been squeezing yourself into clothes two sizes too small for so long that strangulation now feels normal! Don’t hang onto your college measurements when you buy a new necktie, belt, collar, or bra.

When you restrict your windpipe, your neck, your rib muscles and your diaphragm, you have distorted and inhibited breathing. Go get the tape measure. Update your clothing sizes. Your lungs will thank you. You are gorgeous at any size!

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

The Way We Breathe

Coping with Unscheduled Stress: First Response

A stressful event pops up like a shark in your guppy tank without any advanced warning. It is possible, however, to practice in advance how to best handle this “shark” so that you handle the situation as well as humanly possible.

Remember that THE WORSE THE SITUATION IS, THE MORE IMPORTANT YOUR BREATHING BECOMES. Repeat after me! THE WORSE THE SITUATION IS, THE MORE IMPORTANT YOUR BREATHING BECOMES. This is not the time for you to be holding your breath or shallow breathing. Practice First Response until you can react without thinking, without hesitation, as if you were handling your car in a skid. Your body may not have time to phone your brain for instructions.

First Response

1. In the first split-second of a real or perceived crisis (physical, emotional or intellectual) immediately BREATHE OUT. Release as much air as is comfortable. Relax your shoulder as you exhale, letting go of all surface tension. When you grab a big gulp of air without exhaling first, you force the incoming air down on top of stale air, air that was already used up and waiting to be exhaled which leaves you with an expanded chest but not enough oxygen.
2. After that first release, assume normal slow and deep breathing. You are focused. You are clear. You are ready. Remember that your breathing bridges mind, body and spirit so it is a quick way to pull yourself together in a hurry.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Deep Breathing – Why?

Lung tissue is composed of trillions of fragile microscopic bubble-thin air sacs that are tightly packed inside your bony ribcage. Since lung tissue itself has no power to breathe but must be breathed into, it makes sense to work WITH rather than AGAINST Nature’s design.

Your ribcage is shaped like a bell or a birdcage, narrow and rigid at the top, wide and flexible around the bottom circumference. Unlike the bell or the birdcage, your ribcage has a stretchy powerful muscular floor (the diaphragm) that plays an incredibly important role in your respiration.

The upper cage is small and tight with the higher short ribs anchored directly to your breastbone. Don’t be fooled by the width of your shoulders! Gently poke around and you will find the actual cage just below your throat isn’t much wider than your hand is long. I regard the upper cage as a kind of additional reserve tank to be used primarily when you are moving fast and you need more oxygen than the main (lower) tank can provide.

Unfortunately, we tend to “shallow breathe” when we are tired, bored, stressed, or glued to the computer for long hours. When you use your “emergency” tank as if it were your main tank, you are forced to expend lots of energy for few rewards. Fewer air sacs in the upper chest mean less oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange. Rigid upper ribs mean less pumping action.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Breathing? Good. Overbreathing? Not So Much.

There is a pulmonary computer at the base of your brain that works 24/7, never complains, rarely interrupts your busy day and is completely devoted to your survival. If you tried to consciously manage your breathing, you would be dead where you stand.

A steady flow of information speeds back and forth along your nerves from your muscles, lungs and heart, to and from your respiratory center. The speed, depth and frequency of your breathing are all adjusted instantly and precisely to provide exactly the amount of oxygen you need at any given moment. Sleeping? Running? Meditating? Dancing? Scared? Singing? Climbing? 10,000 feet? 200 feet under water? 115 degrees? –25 degrees? No problem. Count on split-second adjustments.

Your pulmonary computer allows for occasional manual control such as holding your breath, or speeding up/slowing down your breathing. Eventually you will return to what the computer deems to be “normal” breathing.

A manual override becomes dangerous, however, when a swimmer forces too many deep and fast breaths just before going into the water in the hopes of extending underwater time.

Overbreathing can increase underwater time but overbreathing also stores almost no extra oxygen and blows off way too much carbon dioxide. Once underwater, the victim runs out of oxygen but is missing the warning bursting sensation from the lack of carbon dioxide that screams “time to go up.” NEVER EVER TAKE MORE THAN TWO OR THREE EXTRA BREATHS BEFORE DIVING IN.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Upside Down Breathing

Take a look at the front view of a ribcage (minus collarbones and arms). Ribs #1 descending through #7 are all short and attached DIRECTLY to your breastbone. The upper cage is relatively NARROW and RIGID. Ribs #8 down through #10 each begin to lengthen and attach to the rib above instead of directly to the breastbone, noticeably increasing the flexibility of the lower cage. We will ignore ribs #11 and #12 because they are short and free-floating at their forward ends. They never make it as far as the front view.

The double layers of intercostal muscles are sandwiched in between your ribs and their job is to raise and lower your ribs as you breathe, much like opening and closing an umbrella.

Lung tissue cannot breathe by itself but MUST BE BREATHED INTO by the combined efforts of your intercostals and the powerful diaphragm that is stretched across the floor of your ribcage. Poke around on your ribcage (gently please) and note the flexibility of your lower ribs.

When we shallow-breathe, we invest a LOT OF ENERGY FOR VERY LITTLE OXYGEN IN RETURN. When we deep-breath into the wider and more flexible lower cage, we spend less energy for greater gain. The upper chest serves well as a reserve tank (when you need more oxygen than the lower cage alone can provide). Shallow breathing is lazy breathing or tired breathing or stressed breathing or simply a very bad habit.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Posture Quick-Fix

Deep lung tissue is devoted almost exclusively to delivery of oxygen directly into the bloodstream and to the simultaneous pick-up and carting away of carbon dioxide. This 24/7 job is so complicated and important that Nature pretty much leaves all the other air pumping, filtering, warming, moisturizing chores to other parts of your anatomy. Your lungs lose full and proper expansion when your spine and ribcage collapse like a beanbag. Lazy posture means poor lung function. Poor lung function leaves you tired and vulnerable to illness.

The slouch, the slump, the sprawl inhibit the amount of air that can move easily in and out of your chest. Less air – less fuel. Less fuel – more fatigue. More fatigue – more slouch.

Experiment: Sit in a typical slouch with your weight rolled back onto your tailbone and your shoulders forward of your ears. Count the seconds it takes for an inhalation. In contrast, roll your weight forward onto your thighbones and off your tailbone. Reach GENTLY upward with the CENTER TOP of your head. That center point is on an imaginary line that would run from one ear, over the top of your head to the other ear. Place your elbows in line with your side-seams.

This time, count the seconds it takes for an inhalation.

This “taller” position is something you can do frequently to help maintain your energy level. Watch yourself in the mirror and notice how much younger and more confident you look in the corrected position.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Breathe Through The “Power Moves”

As you lift, shove, hoist, or haul anything that is huge, heavy or awkward, DO NOT HOLD YOUR BREATH! On occasion we all take complete leave of our senses and decide that, just this once, we absolutely MUST move a file cabinet the size of a small hippo.

You can potentially blow off the top of your skull when you hold that big gulp of air while lifting an armoire only slightly smaller than a Ford Taurus! KEEP YOUR BREATH FLOWING. Your blood pressure and your vascular system get cranky when you combine extreme effort with holding your breath.

Visualize the task in detail before you actually lay hands-on so all your energy will be focused where it needs to be. Still, DO NOT HOLD YOUR BREATH! Resist the temptation by singing or counting out loud till the deed is done. You can’t sing or count while holding your breath.

Better yet. Ask three hunky friends to help but be sure to tell them not to hold their breath.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Practice Yawn

A yawn is Nature’s way of correcting your shallow breathing and giving you a quick boost of energy. Remember that breathing is both voluntary and involuntary. If we depended on having to think about each and every breath, we never would have made it to kindergarten.

You have the power to shift into “manual” mode when it’s suitable (as with breathing exercises) but you remain in “automatic” most of the time. Sometimes because you are bored or tired, your meter drops into a “low fuel” range and you yawn to establish a more suitable oxygen/carbon dioxide level.

A yawn also invigorates face and speech muscles. Thinking about a yawn (or trying not to) is usually enough to trigger the process.

A typical yawn shapes your mouth into a vertical oval. Once you have an oval in place, expand on this by stretching that oval outward into a circle. Use a mirror at first if you need visual feedback. This practice yawn may trigger an authentic deep yawn and watering eyes. If so, well done.

One great big yawn is probably more useful than a lot of little stifled ones.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Toss the Toy Soldier

Apologies to drill sergeants everywhere but “Stomach in! Chest out! Shoulders back” sucks. While this particular posture makes a soldier appear leaner and meaner on the parade ground, it reduces his ability to function efficiently. Unfortunately, this concept has seeped into general society and has long been accepted as a guide for good posture.

“Stomach in” pushes the abdomen in and up and restricts the movement of your diaphragm (your most valuable breathing muscle). “Chest out” pushes your breathing up from the wide elastic lower lungs into the narrow restricted upper rib cage. “Shoulders back” pressures your throat, vocal chords and neck arteries. Also a rigid ribcage locks down the intercostal muscles between your ribs.

Good posture results in spending the MINIMUM energy to produce MAXIMUM fuel with less overall wear and tear. It appears that a Masai warrior can walk forever and spring into action at an instant’s notice. No military-style posture there. The same could be said for martial arts masters.

Stand and move while gently reaching upward with the center top of your head as if your head could float above your spine. Relax your jaws and shoulders. Keep your elbows in line with your side seams and unlock your knees. Relax your tummy and breathe deep, low, and slow. Now you are ready.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Open Cage

It is unfortunate that most of us don’t have a clue how a good deep breath actually feels. Blame poor posture, stress and increasing lack of awareness for the negative drama played out in our bodies.

After awhile, you brain accepts and records your constricted breathing and poor posture as the norm. Once a brain-map is in place, the body will return to that path of least resistance unless you make a conscious effort to do otherwise. The Open Cage is a chance to get some easy oxygen, to stretch out your spine, to fan open your ribs and to re-map your brain as to ideal posture and efficient breathing.

1. Lie on your back across a bed with your knees bent down over the edge of the mattress. Let your lower legs and feet dangle toward the floor (about hip-distance apart). Hold one wrist with the opposite hand (elbows bent). Your hands will be a few inches above the top of your head with your palms facing the ceiling. If they don’t drop down easily on the bed, prop them up with a pillow.

2. Breathe slowly and deeply without any attempt to manipulate your breathing. Just be aware. Notice how much more air you are taking in when your ribs aren’t scrunched down against your delicate lungs.

3. When you finish, roll over slowly onto your side and push yourself up with your arms and hands.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Mindful Breathing. What’s In It For Me?

Why should you, an experienced breather, invest your limited time in the study of CONSCIOUS breathing techniques? The movement of your breath, thus far, seems to have been as dependable, as mindless, as the arc of the sun and the flow of the tides. Why get involved in a system that doesn’t appear to demand immediate attention?

Mother Nature (in one of her generous brilliant moves) gave our species two different methods of breathing. The first is AUTOMATIC. The breath comes and goes without involving the conscious mind at all. AUTOMATIC gear functions quite well except for those times when we interfere with the design by doing something incredibly stupid like smoking.

The AUTOMATIC mode is like having a dependable little Honda Civic in your garage. It gets you from point A to point B with fairly good gas mileage and a fairly predictable ride.

The second option is CONSCIOUS practiced breathing that can be compared to a Lamborghini sitting right there next to your little Civic. You can drive through life quite nicely, running all your errands in the little Civic that is designed to last forever and require very little effort on your part. You may never unlock the Lamborghini (most people don’t) but you will be missing out on power, insight, serenity and wisdom.

Don’t worry. If you want to stay with the Civic, we will work on making the AUTOMATIC mode healthier and more interesting as well. Your choice. Your garage.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Hill and Valley Breathing

When we are tired, stressed, distracted, rushed or nervous, we tend to push our breathing high into the narrow and tight upper chest. Tension begins to build around the jaws, shoulders and throat and we end up investing far too much energy to get too little oxygen in return. Hill and Valley is an easy way to relax quickly and return your breathing to the wide elastic lower ribcage.

Lie on your back with your feet flat on the floor, knees bent at 90 degrees, hip-distance apart. Eyes open or closed. Lay your palms down just above your waist with the tips of your middle fingers touching halfway between your bellybutton and the bottom of your breastbone. Imagine that there is a small delicate balloon under your fingertips.

Your breathing will move in and out of that “balloon” (with absolutely no involvement at all in the ribcage). Yes, you can do this because you always breathe this way when you sleep.

1. Inhale slowly and quietly, allowing the “balloon” to fill. There is no need to overfill because you take in a surprising amount of air without much effort when you breathe into your low-resistance lower lungs.
2. Exhale, allowing your abdomen to sink down toward the floor and become slightly concave. Keep the breathing quiet and gentle. Continue for as long as you are comfortable and focused.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.