Learning to Breathe Correctly

It might seem strange that there could be a right and wrong way to breathe, but it is true. Correct breathing is a very important part of staying healthy. Many people breathe incorrectly, particularly people who are chronically anxious or who sometimes get panic attacks. We all start out as babies knowing how to breathe, but as we grow up various things affect us and during emotional events our pattern of breathing can alter. The emotion passes, but sometimes the breathing pattern remains.

Fortunately it is easy to test and even easier to correct.

 

Breathing and Health

Incorrect breathing is associated with several health problems. Breathing does more than just move air in and out of your lungs. When the diaphragm muscle moves your chest up and down it actually performs several other important functions. The main arteries go through the centre of the diaphragm, and so does the digestive tract and the lymph system. When the diaphragm is moving it also massages the digestive system and pumps the lymph system. Under-exercising the diaphragm risks problems with these essential systems.

Few people know much about the lymph circulation, but is almost as extensive as the blood circulation and is an essential component of your immune system. A weak immune system leaves you open to frequent infections.

Some people take short, shallow breaths by pulling up their chest and letting it go. This is called Thoracic breathing. This is inefficient because prevents the air reaching the whole of the lung and leads to poor gas exchange. If the diaphragm does not move properly it can cause digestive problems and reduce resistance to minor infections.

The correct way to breathe is Diaphragmatically. This involves pushing the
stomach out when breathing, or more accurately, raising the diaphragm when breathing.
Diaphragmatic breathing maintains the optimum pH level in the bloodstream.
When someone breathes thoracically, it affects their ph levels, (the acid/alkali balance in the bloodstream) and their blood becomes more acidic. This triggers a stress response by causing the pituitary gland to secrete stress hormones into the bloodstream. Constant stress can lead to health problems.
Conversely, Hyperventilation (over rapid breathing) causes the pH to turn alkali which can bring on panic attacks. This is the reason why getting someone in panic to rebreathe into a paper bag works. It increases the level of CO2 in the lungs and reverses the pH imbalance caused by over breathing. So breathing can have a direct effect on your health.

Test your own breathing

To test whether you are breathing properly, here's what to do. Sit or lie down somewhere. You will see the effect more clearly if you are lying down. Put one hand on your upper chest and your other hand on your abdomen, just above your belly button. Allow your breathing to normalise for a minute or two, and then notice which hand is moving. The correct way to breathe is by moving your diaphragm, which means the hand on your abdomen should be moving up and down as you breathe, but the hand on the chest should be steady. If you find that the hand on your chest is the one doing the moving, then you are breathing wrongly. Alternatively, if you are sitting down, put both hands flat on your stomach, one on each side of your bellybutton, with the tips of the longest fingers just touching. When you breathe you should see a small gap appear between the finger tips. if not you are probably breathing at the top of your chest instead of with your diaphragm.

Learn how to breathe correctly

Learning how to breathe from the diaphragm is simple. Keep your hand on your abdomen and when you breathe in, make the abdomen rise. It may take a few practices to find the right muscles to do this, but you will know when you have it right because it will feel very natural. You will find that the abdomen rises and falls but the upper chest stays still. You might find it useful to put a cushion or a book on your abdomen so that you can see the rise and fall clearly.
Once you have established the correct pattern of breathing all you have to do is to check a few times during the day when you are sitting down, and at night when you are lying in bed. Just put your hands in place and check that they are moving correctly. After a day or two the change will be permanent and you can forget about it. Correct breathing will be maintained automatically.

Breathe Naturally

Next time you are in a place where you can observe other people, look carefully and you may be surprised to notice how many are breathing incorrectly. The right way to breath is in through the nose and out through the nose when you are at rest, and in through the mouth and out through the mouth when you are doing strenuous activity. Some relaxation and meditation instructions talk about circular breathing, in through the nose and out through the mouth, but there is no evidence to support this idea. It is simply a way of making you focus your attention on your breathing: by doing that you stop focusing on other things such as intrusive thoughts.

BREATHING AND HYPNOSIS

As well as being important for everyday health, correct breathing is important for hypnosis. Taking a deep breath and releasing it stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system which causes the body to relax and release tension. When you go into hypnosis or self hypnosis you will notice that a series of deep breaths can start you going into trance, but once in trance most of the time your breathing will be very shallow, almost imperceptible, and entirely done at the top of the chest. By monitoring your breathing patterns you know when you are working in the right areas. Whenever you think about some topic that affects you at the unconscious level, or when the hypnotist mentions something that touches on a deep concern, you will involuntarily take a deep breath, almost like a sigh but without the sound. It is one of the indicators I use as feedback when I have a client in trance.

BREATHING AND MEDITATION

Breathing is an important part of meditation. In fact just paying attention to your breathing and saying silently to yourself "More and more relaxed.... deeper and deeper" on every breath out can be an effective way of going into trance.

 

• Meditation Page
• Breathing Self Hypnosis Technique