Whether it's due to stress, habit or simple inattentiveness most of us don't utilize our lungs to their fullest capacity. We sometimes breathe air into the top part of our lungs, or into the lower portion, or into the middle, but we hardly ever take in a complete breath to fill our entire lungs. With some dedication and practice, however, we can train ourselves to be healthier breathers. This will enable you to take greater advantage of the life benefits your breath has to offer, like the cleansing benefit of introducing larger amounts of oxygen into your system.
The Complete Breath
The complete breath is the proper way of breathing. It's breathing in a way which fills the lungs to capacity and then empties the lungs of all waste. In the yoga practice of Pranayama (which means "breath control), the complete breath is the foundation of all subsequent specialized breathing techniques and must be mastered first.
The Resting Stage of Breathing
As it is with all forms of exercise, a lot of good goes on in the period of rest which comes after the actual activity. Resting is what allows for improved restoration. In the case of breathing exercises, rest is achieved not by stopping the breath, but through prolonging the natural pause which follows every inhale and every exhale. There's a good reason why the expression "take a breather" is synonymous with relaxation. Deliberately extending the pause stage of your breath has the benefit of slowing everything down, relaxing the nerves and relieving fatigue. Yogis train themselves to increase the duration of their breathing pauses simply by breathing completely for a while to build up their body's supply of oxygen. Once comfortable begin to stretch out each stage of your breath, with a focus on prolonging the pause phase of your breath for only as long as it does not cause you to experience distress. Remember, the pause is a natural part of the breath cycle. The point is not to try to stop the breath by holding the pause under strain. Rather the goal is to build up your ability to effortlessly expand the rest stage of your breathing cycle.
Mind Control
Breath control and mental control go hand in hand because you are essentially training your mind in order to train your breath. Breath control requires deliberate mental focus otherwise you'll revert to breathing as you've been habituated to breathe. The mind has to be settled so that your undivided attention can be given to being mindful about your breath. Allowing your mind to get distracted introduces a constant interruption to your breathing exercise making improvements slower to come. Try creating a special space to practice your breathing control. Whatever you can do to make your space calming and conducive to your ability to sustain inner focus, implement those strategies. Another technique of settling the mind can be learned from the "moving meditation" of tai chi. It's said that the practiced simple movements of tai chi work to preoccupy the subconscious mind so that subconscious thoughts are less likely to emerge and distract the conscious mind from a higher focus.
Gentle Progress
Never try to force breath control. If the breathing exercise you're performing begins to make you feel dizzy, faint or uncomfortable -- stop. Do not resume until you can settle yourself again.
Tags: your breath, complete breath, stage your, your breathing, Breath control
