Breathing Exercises

 

"Before breathing exercises it took me 45 minutes to really get into my stride when off road mountain biking. Within 2 weeks of breathing exercises, the warm up period disappeared. At the end of the ride, 3 hours later, I was still going full on. The other riders were asking what I was on, I said 'Air' ".  Michael Cohen

Breathing is something we take for granted in our day. As you sit here now you are probably shallow breathing. 

The consequences of this are:

1. You are not emptying and filling your lungs. This means you are pushing stale air around your body.

2. You will have cardiovascular limitations i.e. your heart will feel the strain of certain physical actions such as: running, physical exercise, sports and for others just a walk down the road.

3. You may be reverse breathing therefore it could be putting strains on your coping mechanism and restricting the amount of oxygen when under stress, strain or pressure.

How often do you breathe deep, right into your abdominal area?

The following are some of the potential benefits you can achieve by incorporating deep breathing exercises into your day:

1. Filling and emptying your lungs and removing the stale air.

2. Improving your circulatory system and connective pathways.

3. Increasing the saturation of oxygen in your blood.

4. Improving your cardiovascular system. Just remember your heart is a muscle and can be developed the more you practice.

5. Directing the breathe into areas of the body where there are injuries and illnesses. This will be stimulating on a healing level as well calming in the case of a pain, stress or anxiety.

6. Reducing your cardiovascular warm up period at the start of physical sports and exercise.

7. Reducing your recovery period from physical sports and exercise.

Breathing Check

Do you reverse breathe?? Many people reverse breathe without realising and without causing a problem. However, others may struggle when under physical strain, physical exercise, stress or anxiety. In order to check whether you do, you will need to complete the following Breathe Test.

Breathe Test Place your hand over your stomach. Take a deep long breathe in and out through nose, keeping the mouth closed. Make sure that the in and out breathes are the same length. Observe whether you hand moves in or out with the in breath and the out breathe. Correct breathing is when the stomach expands moving the hand out with the in breath and deflating moving the hand inwards when you breathe out. Reverse Breathing is the opposite i.e. if your hand moves inwards on the in breath and outwards on the out breathe.  The simple logic behind correct breathing is that you should be inflating the stomach like a balloon when breathing in and deflating the balloon when breathing out. If you reverse breathe it means that you are trying to fill up something that is deflating. This is particularly important for those persons who suffer from pressure, stress and anxiety this will really affect their coping mechanism.

 

Breathing Exercises

Here at the Bioenergy Healing Clinic we teach Breathing Exercises as part of the 5 elements to RaphaYad Bioenergy Healing treatment.  Breathing exercises are just as important as eating, drinking and sleeping. They need to be incorporated into your day. The easy thing about the following breathing exercises is that you do not have to take time out to do them. They can be incorporated into your normal day. You can do them on the train or bus, in the car, watching television, whilst ironing or cooking, at your office desk. A few minutes regularly throughout the day and you will see positive results within days!!!!

How do I know it works? "Because I do the breathing exercises myself, and just like my clients I reap the benefits". Michael Cohen

Have you done the breathe check? If you haven’t you need to do it!

 

LEVEL 1   Straight Line Breathing

Read technique notes below. Stand or sit down keeping your spine straight, with you chin forward. Place your hand over your belly button.   Before you take the first in breathe pull your stomach in. This will allow you to gain fuller  movement when you take the in breathe. Keep your mouth closed and take an extended BREATHE IN through the nose into you abdominal area. As you breathe in push your hand out with your stomach muscles. As you get to the end of the breath open the chest and fill it with the remaining air Slowly BREATHE OUT through the nose with control, pulling your stomach in with your stomach muscles and use your hand to push it in whilst relaxing the shoulders. Make sure the out-breathe is the same length as the in-breathe. Continue with steps 5 and 6. Make sure you can hear your breathe (except in public places where you may want to be more discreet) and you can see the stomach moving as this will help you to build up a rhythm. As you get more proficient try to extend the length of the breath. When you find this level easy and you have extended the length of the breath then move onto level 2. Reverse Breathers - Before you can move onto the next level you must correct your breathing technique. At first this new way of breathing may  feel strange, demanding, tiring, exerting. That's normal when having to re-train the breath. Just remember the more you practice the easier it becomes. If you feel lightheaded this can be a normal reaction to filling you lungs up with clean(er) air. Take a moment, make sure you are steady on your feet otherwise sit down until you have recovered.

LEVEL 2   Triangular Breathing

The main difference here is that there is a hold between the in and out breathe. The hold should be the same length of the in and out breathe. Therefore all sides of the triangle are of equal length. Read technique notes below. Place your hand over your belly button (if necessary to guide you). Keep your mouth closed and take an extended BREATHE IN as in LEVEL 1. Hold the breathe for the same length as the in-breathe. Slowly BREATHE OUT as in LEVEL 1. Continue with steps 3 to 5. There should not be a strain and similarly you shouldn't find yourself catching your breath. If this happens shorten the length of the sides of the triangle otherwise go back to level 1. When you find this level easy and you have extended the length of the breath then move onto level 3.

LEVEL 3   Square Breathing

This level of breathing has 2 holds. The 1st between the in and out breathe and a 2nd after the out breathe. The holds should be the same length of the in and out breathe. Therefore all sides of the square are of equal length. Read technique notes below. Keep your mouth closed and take an extended BREATHE IN as in LEVEL 1. Hold the breathe for the same length as the in-breathe. Slowly BREATHE OUT as in LEVEL 1. Hold the breathe for the same length as the in-breathe. Continue with steps 2 to 5. There should not be a strain and similarly you shouldn't find yourself catching your breath. If this happens shorten the length of the sides of the square otherwise go back to level 2. When you find this level easy and you have experimented by extending the length of the breath then move onto level 4.

LEVEL 4   Rectangular Breathing

This level is similar to square breathing except that the 2 holds are longer than the in and out breathes. Make sure both holds are the same length. The shorter in and out breaths are also the same length. Just like a rectangle you have 2 long sides and 2 short sides. Read technique notes below. Keep your mouth closed and take an extended BREATHE IN as in LEVEL 1. Hold the breathe for an extended length longer than the in-breathe. Slowly BREATHE OUT as in LEVEL 1. Hold the breathe for an extended length (the same length as the 1st hold). Continue with steps 2 to 5. There should not be a strain and similarly you shouldn't find yourself catching your breath. If this happens shorten the length of the sides of the rectangle otherwise go back to level 3. When you find this level easy and you have extended the length of the breath try the Therapeutic Breathing technique.

Therapeutic Breathing

Therapeutic breathing is where you can direct the breath into a particular part of the body, where you may have an injury, illness or ailment. Just as importantly you can use it to stimulate or cleanse an organ or part of the body that is weak or under-active. Breathing Exercises is a healing process in its own right as used by some practitioners. It can be quite transforming and invigorating on one level. Yet on another level it can be calming or relaxing. By taking the breath into a specific region of the body can: Stimulate it Send signals to your brain to (re-) activate the healing mechanism to this area Open up the connective pathways Increase the saturation of oxygen to the blocked points Increase circulation Release pain Reduce emotional and psychological trauma Calm stress and anxiety Therapeutic Breathing utilities the techniques used in Level 3 Square breathing. However instead of directing the breath into your abdominal area you direct it into the particular part of the body.  Read technique notes below. Decide on the region or part of the body that you are going to breathe into. For a moment take your mind and eyes to that region. Then sense the direct route it will take to go from your nose to the target location and then back out through the nose. Keep your mouth closed, take an extended BREATHE IN along the route, filling every cell along the route to the target location. The route can fill thick like squeezing toothpaste or it may flow as easy as oil. Hold the breathe for the same length as the in-breathe. Slowly BREATHE OUT from the target area, feeling each cell empty out through the nose. Hold the breathe for the same length as the in-breathe. Continue with steps 2 to 6. There should not be a strain and similarly you shouldn't find yourself catching your breath. If this happens shorten the length of the sides of the square otherwise go back to level 3 to practice the square breathing technique. As you become more proficient with the technique you can extend the length of the holds as you did in Level 4 Rectangular Breathing.

Technique Notes

** IMPORTANT **  Please read before starting breathing exercises Always try to approach the breathing exercises in a relaxed frame of mind. If you are stressed, anxious or emotional allow the breath to calm and relax you. In particular utilise the technique, where possible, at the onset of a symptoms. All techniques involves control with smooth in and out breathes. Build a rhythm by listening to the breathe, focusing on the shape of the technique or the movement of air. Feel the flow and movement of air through the body. Don’t try too hard. Find a way to incorporate the breathing exercises periodically throughout your day.   Do not combine breathing techniques with physical exercise or sports until you feel confident and that it is of benefit to the activity you are doing. It should be noted that some activities require natural breathing techniques. Breathing exercises done before an activity will be of huge benefit. If you have a heart or cardiovascular condition, high or low blood pressure or a condition or illness that could be affected by the breathing exercises then please seek medical advice before commencing breathing exercises. The breathing exercises should not replace other forms of treatment, however they will compliment them in most cases. If you feel unsteady on your feet take a moment out, relax, sit down until you feel steady again. If you are not used to deep breathing techniques you can sometimes feel light headed. After a short time this will dissipate as your body becomes more accustomed to the exercises. If you feel dizzy or light headed and are finding it difficult to recover then move into a recovery position by carefully lowering your body to the floor. Laying on your back, raise your lower legs onto a chair. This will increase blood circulation to the head and enable you to normalise. There are many different types of breathing exercises taught. The suggested exercises will be suitable for most people but not all. Make sure what you do is enjoyable and effective. Please feel free to email the administration office breath@bioenergyhealing.org.uk or telephone 0845 456 1336 to get further information or advice on the breathing exercises. Use the breathing exercises to experiment and explore your body. Share your experiences and what you have learnt with others. Air is free!