Breathing Exercises

✾ To simply Breathe Better

Without shifting your body or changing position, slowly breathe in through your nose. Pay attention to how the air feels as it enters your nasal cavity and passes through the back of your throat and down to your chest, expanding your lungs — then release it softly and feel it all rush out. Repeat this two more times, following the path of the air in and out, in and out.

Next adjust your posture so that you are more upright — lifting your sternum slightly and allowing your shoulders to roll back if they are hunched forward. Breathe in deeply again and feel how much deeper into your chest the air gets.

✾ Rising and Setting Sun Breath

Lightly place your hands loosely crossed over your heart area but not directly touching it; allow about a kitten of space between your hands and your chest.

As you breathe in, focus on your sternum. As your chest rises, gently separate your hands while also lifting your chin up. As you exhale, your body may relax, but keep your chin up and your hands in front of you. You’ll still be properly upright for a good breathing position.

You can also use the visualization of the sun rising out from your chest as you breathe in and the sun setting as you exhale.

✾ 3-Breaths Exercise

When I can, I do this exercise using the whole of my body to conduct the air in and out — meaning my arms and legs are involved in the process as well.

To start, stand with your legs a little wider than shoulder-width apart, with a bit of squishy bend in your knees, and have your arms loosely crossed in front of your diaphragm.

As you take a deep breath in, lower your center of gravity slightly by bending your knees while also uncrossing and extending your arms outward in a welcoming position.

Hold the breath for three seconds, then slowly release, bringing your arms back to center while slightly straightening your legs.

Repeat the whole movement again, this time holding your breath for six seconds and then releasing. Then follow the process one more time, holding for nine seconds and then releasing the breath.

While using the whole body tends to give the best results, you can certainly modify this exercise to suit your needs, including being completely still, sitting, or even lying down if you need to.

✾ The Physiological Sigh, or Cyclic Breathing

Breathe in through your nose as normal- however, just before you get to the top of the inhale, pause for a moment. Then take a second shorter inhale; if you can't inhale through your nose, inhaling through your mouth is nearly as effective ... Then breathe out through your mouth in one long, slow, extended exhale.

The second shorter inhale is integral to “popping open” any collapsed air sacs in the lungs, which helps to significantly increase oxygen intake and reduce CO2 levels in the body (which causes additional stress when it builds up). The breathing pattern also slows your heart rate, and leaves you feeling calmer, less tense, and more focused overall. Research has even found that performing it for five minutes per day is generally more effective than mindfulness based meditation, and other more common breathing techniques such as cyclic hyperventilation and box breathing- and can have a longer lasting impact on stress levels.