DON’T IGNORE THE GIFT FROM NATURE
- TO HELP PROTECT AND ENHANCE YOUR LIFE.
BY JOEL JELEN OF RESET BREATHING
Given that breathing is a gift from
nature to us, it seems as though it’s one
of the easiest aspects of our health to
ignore.
People with asthma and other related respiratory
conditions will tell you how happy they are when they
can breathe easily. The same goes for the rest of us
human beings who experience and then overcome
a stressful, fight or flight situation. Likewise, sleep
apnoea sufferers too.
For the rest of us, it's only when, for example, I ask
people at our breathing education workshops to
listen to their breathing that they become slightly
uncomfortable in doing so.
Similarly, when people are asked to perform any one
of six core breathing techniques to relax mind and
body in a breathing session, it's sometimes only then
that individuals in the group begin to think about/
appreciate their breathing and acknowledge the role
of the breath in how they think, feel and function.
It is a curious phenomenon, but once you try, you'll
experience what I’m describing.
In fact, it's that curious, many people including
the medical profession are unwittingly ignorant of
the power of breathing optimally for good health
and it is often subsequently ignored in efforts to
place a diagnosis where required. Within a working
environment as well as a social one, relaxed breathing
can have a massive impact on someone's overall
disposition in terms of e.g. mood and performance.
There are many useful lifestyle tips you can adopt to
breathe better, here are just a few:
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Practice nasal breathing at all times
Exercise, if only mildly, mouth closed!
Eliminate sighing, sniffing, big yawning, deep
breathing
Overthinking – eradicate negative thoughts by
focusing on the breath
Use carbonated water when enduring a talkative
day!
Technology – focus on the breath during laptop/
mobile phone use
Sleep – put your brain to bed two hours before
yourself
Live more in the parasympathetic i.e. and less in
a heightened sense of anticipation
Finally, have a think about your own breathing. Is
it normal? What is 'normal'? Light, quiet, effortless,
soft, through the nose, tummy-based, rhythmic,
gently paused on the exhale. This is how we breathed
until the comforts of modern life came along.
There are three levels of breathing:
1. So softly that the person next to you can’t hear
you breathe
2. Softly so you can’t hear yourself breathe
3. So softly that you cannot FEEL yourself breathe
Try and measure your breathing - via what we term
the Control Pause which is a comfortable breath hold:
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Take a small silent breath in through your nose
Allow a small silent breath out through your nose
Hold your nose with your fingers preventing air
from entering your lungs
Time the number of seconds until you feel the
first distinct desire to breathe in
If it's less than 40 seconds, learning how to
breathe optimally will make a huge difference to
your health.
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