Every baby knows how to take a deep breath. Watch one and see. The shoulders stay still. The rib cage expands and contracts a little. The abdomen expands and contracts a lot. How come everyone forgets how to breathe by the time they get to school? Bad posture, for one thing. When I was in second grade, the teacher promised some kind of prize at recess to the kid who could stand the tallest. I thought it was funny watching everyone pull their shoulders up around their ears and hold their breath. I don't suppose I looked any different. Unfortunately, whatever habits lead to shallow breathing in elementary school tend to remain into adulthood unless they have a specific reason to relearn deep breathing.
For me it was music. I play trombone and have also studied voice. Musicians must learn various special breathing techniques, but correct ordinary breathing forms the foundation of all of them. Here is how to take a simple deep breath:
- Sit or stand with your back straight and your shoulders relaxed.
- Put your hands on your waist, with your fingers in front and thumbs in back. (This part isn't part of breathing, but it will help you notice what a really deep breath acts like.)
- Form your mouth to say, "Oh." (Otherwise you're likely to concentrate so much on the rest of your body that your throat will close off and you won't breathe at all!)
- With that sound in your mind, expand your waist so you can feel it moving with both hands all the way around. That just might be the deepest breath you have taken in years.
- Move your abdomen in and out, carefully noting the sensation of the movement and of the air going in and out of your mouth.
- After a while, close your mouth and continue to breathe through your nose. Remain very intentional about the movement of your abdominal muscles all the way around, front and back.
- Continue to focus attention on the mechanics and physical sensation of breathing for several minutes.
- Repeat this exercise frequently enough that proper breathing becomes habitual.
While you're getting used to breathing deeply, pay attention to what your body does as you get winded. If you don't do any regular aerobic exercise, climb a flight of stairs as quickly as you can. Then pay attention to your body. Among other things, I'm sure you'll realize that your abdomen expands a lot more than your chest even when you're not particularly trying to make it so!
As it turns out, proper breathing is critically important for both physical and emotional health. Here are just a few of the ways:
- When you're lifting weights, whether as part of an exercise routine or you just need to pick up something heavy. Inhale before you pick it up, that is, in the relatively relaxed part of the process. Exhale as you exert yourself. It's amazing how easy it is to forget to breathe entirely.
- When you're under stress. Simply paying careful attention to your breathing will calm you, if only because you cannot focus your mind on your breathing and your problem at the same time. It can be hard work forcing yourself to concentrate on breathing, but it's worth it.
- Focusing on breathing as a regular, meditative discipline can clear your mind and prepare it for more imaginative thinking later on instead of letting stray thoughts buzz around your mind like so many flies.
- Deep breathing can help lower your blood pressure.
- The deep breathing that comes from sustained aerobic activity helps you burn fat and lose weight.
So how's your breathing? Do you take mostly deep breaths, or shallow breaths? Or are you sure one way or the other? Using the exercise I have described, you can make sure that you develop the habit of breathing deeply. You'll be healthier for it.
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