- How to check your breathing technique
- Signs of relaxed breathing
- Tips for Correcting Breathing to Abdominal or Belly Breathing
- Breathing Exercises
1. Let's check your breathing technique
So many people assume they breathe effectively and correctly. Here is a simple test to see whether you breathe effectively.
Step 1 Put your hand on your stomach and leave it there. Breathe as you always do and see whether your chest falls and rises or if your stomach is rising and falling. Does your abdomen (tummy) enlarge significantly more than any movement in your chest with each intake of air?
Step 2 If your stomach is rising and your chest is staying still when breathing in, then you are breathing correctly.
Step 3 If your chest rises when you breathe in, it is incorrect. It is likely that you’re not utilising your diaphragm when breathing and that you are only partially filling your lungs with air with each breath you take.
2. Signs of regular relaxed breathing
With regular relaxed breathing you will find the following:
- Relaxed body especially the neck and shoulders
- Abdominal or Belly breathing also called diaphragmatic breathing
- Breathing is slow and regular – no stress
- Breathing is smooth and rhythmical
3. Tips for Correcting Abdominal or Belly Breathing
If the abdomen does not move correctly that is expand when you inhale, you need to correct it. To correct for abdominal or belly breathing do the following:
Be relaxed and take a slow, deep breath in and then breathe out slowly and steadily. Your next breath should come in automatically, that is without your effort. Your tummy will move outward as you breathe in and move inward as you breathe out. Continue practicing breathing in this manner, having a hand on your belly to observe that your belly expands with each breathe is helpful.
Should you notice your abdomen move incorrectly, relax and re-establish correct breathing. Take a deep, slow, easy breath and blow it out, slowly and steadily. Do it as many times as you need to, to re-establish correct abdominal breathing. Normally the abdomen will begin to move correctly that is the abdomen or belly expands as air fill the lungs. Usually this is established with a few repetition, if you have difficulty establishing abdominal breathing, it is a good idea to be checked as there may be a problem.
4. Breathing Exercises
a. Abdominal breathing with inhale to exhale breathing ratio.
Find a quite spot and relax, either seated or standing or even if you’re out for a quite stroll in the park.
If seated or standing in the one spot, place your hand, horizontally, about one inch above your navel. Observe how your belly moves every time you breathe in and breathe out. If you are breathing correctly, you should find that the hand over the tummy moves out as you breathe in and moves in as you breathe out.
Now introduce the following ratio to your breathing. Breathe in to the count of 4, hold for a second and then breathe out to the count of 4. For individuals who are feeling stressed trial breathing out to a count that is twice that which you breathe in for. So if you breathe in to the count of 3 or 4 then breathe out to the count of 6 or 8. This ratio of breathing in and out helps expel additional carbon dioxide.
b. Breathing Exercise – Book on Stomach
For this exercise you need to lay on your back. on your back and put a book on your stomach. Now, relax and inhale deeply into your abdomen so that the book rises. When you exhale, the book should fall. Do this exercise when you wake up in the morning or before you go to sleep. Do it a few times only, slowly. Do not overdo it - take it easy, go slow. The aim is to make such breathing get into your everyday breathing naturally. Remember, breathing is not something you force - it is something done unconsciously.
c. Alternate Nose Breathing Exercise
This exercise helps reduce stress. Basically it is breathing in through the one nostril and breathing out through the other. Place a finger on the left nostril thus holding it closed, breathe in through the right to the count of 4 hold for a second or two, release the left nostril and close the right and breathe out to the count of 4. It becomes easier after a few repeats. Only do a few times.