Breathing For Dummies

How to stop breathing, and start living

To breathe is to live.
The word spirit (from latin spiritus/ spirare) means to breath. And as we have our last breath, our soul withdraws from our body.

There isn't much into breathing;
it is simple: inhale, exhale.
It is effortless: we don't even think about it,
but it is one of the miracles of the human body. and if you don't appreciate it yet, talk to some covid-19 patients.

Going manual

 When we get anxious, our body is set to fight or flight mode, though not noticeble, we start taking faster and shallower breaths. this stress response causes Hyperventilation which in turn causes many symptoms therefore more anxiety.

Mindful breathing is one of the best techniques to control anxiety levels.

How to breathe correctly?

 Put one hand on the chest, the other on the belly. the former should move slightly while the latter should move back and forth as the belly expands and contracts. If your neck and shoulders move along, then you're doing it wrong.

Expanding, belly out => inhale

Contracting, belly in => Exhale

Dogs breathing would be the perfect example. Humans develop a bad posture since an early age: sitting 8 hours a day since first day of school, till last day of retirement. That contributed largly in breathing pattern dysfunction.

Back to the origins

  A common word among yoga aficionados is Pranayama or breath extention. It is an ancient practice mentioned in the Hindu scriptures notably in the Bhagavad Gita, and it became one of the eight limbs of Yoga.

Breathing exercises

  After having tested many rhythmic breathing apps, I recommend Prana breath. It is free but only available on android unfortunately

  iOS users don't dispair, check out this amazing youtube channel "Breathing Mantra". Plenty of timing combinations for different levels.

When hyperventilation becomes your friend

There has been a lot of hype in recent years about the Wim Hof Method. I am on the process of gathering information and trying it myself. My feedback will be the subject of a future post. Stay tuned ;)