In my special report, Becoming a Wise Well Woman: How to Baby Step Your Way to Wisdom, Well-being and Wealth, I talk about conscious breathing. Baby Step #2, to simply breathe, is a way to bring some relaxation into your life. It really works for me. Yet, I am aware that relaxation isn’t the only benefit experts talk about that comes from conscious breathing. Certainly, there is plenty to share on the topic.
These baby steps, part of The 12 Baby Steps Foundation Formula, are so simple, and yet so powerful that I feel compelled to elaborate. And since I’m not a breath expert, I decided to do a little research to share with you.
In fact, most experts agree that we are generally oblivious to the power of our breathing. We breathe in and out all day and all night long unconsciously, almost automatically. In fact, our breath really is on “autopilot”. Unless we have suffered a debilitating injury or illness, most of us never have to think about breathing.
We breathe in life-giving oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide, cleansing our systems continuously. On his website, www.breathing.com, Mike Grant White shares with us that breathing supplies over 99% of our entire oxygen and energy supply. Clearly, optimal breathing improves vitality and quality of life, and poor breathing causes or worsens illness and disease.
Carlos R. Zalaquett, Ph. D., who created a health series for college students titled “Breathing Techniques” (http://www.coedu.usf.edu/zalaquett/Help_Screens/breath.htm), describes the vital role that oxygen plays in the respiratory and circulatory systems. He continues to highlight the dangers of irregular breathing and the contribution to the general deterioration of health in individuals of any age. Dr. David Anderson, a senior investigator at the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging, has seen evidence that slower, deep breathing helps some people lower blood pressure. Dr. Woodson Merrel, author of Power Up: Unleash Your Natural Energy, Revitalize Our Health and Feel 10 Years Younger, believes that the practice of deep breathing can increase your energy. “It makes a dramatic difference in lowering down the level of stress and calming your nervous system,” he says.
Johnnie D. Jackow Sr, Fitness Expert/Author, is often quoted saying “Oxygen is fuel for your body as is food.”
And we’ve all seen on http://www.Oprah.com and in the magazine, Oprah’s famous “Breathing Spaces” feature. In an article on breathing in a recent issue, the author described one of the best ways to calm yourself down when you are stressed is to simply stop what you are doing and take a deep breath.
In a famous “What I Know For Sure” column titled “Cure for Being Overwhelmed”, Oprah described the cure as simply being to take a day and do nothing!
And she went on to write– “And I wrote in my journal: I am grateful for my breath and the recognition that I am here, alive. Breathing. I am grateful for life.”
We know now that simply by concentrating on taking air in and letting air out, you can actually decrease tension in your body, relieve anxiety and improve circulation. Some say you can improve metabolism, too. Combine all these things and you can achieve optimal health.
Wow! Can it be that simple?
Yes and here’s how you do it:
There are many practices and techniques, some include deep breathing, and some counted breathing, some imaginative breathing, some circular breathing. For me, for my 12 Baby Steps, I focus on natural, slow, gentle breathing.
The best description I found comes from Thich Nhat Hanh, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, and author of The Miracle of Mindfulness. He describes a technique he calls “watching the breath”:
Your breath should be light, even and flowing, like a thin stream of water running through the sand. The instant you sit down to meditate, begin watching your breath. At first, breathe normally, gradually letting your breathing slow down until it is quiet, even and the length of the breaths fairly long. From the moment you sit down to the moment your breathing has become deep and silent, be conscious of everything that is happening in yourself. Making your breath calm and even is called the method of following one’s breath. If it seems hard at first, you can substitute the method of counting your breath.
As you breathe in, count 1 in your mind, and as you breathe out, count 1.
Breathe in, count 2. Breath out, count 2.
Continue through 10, then return to 1 again.
Thich Nhat Hanh goes on to describe in his writings “the miracle that happens when we attend solely to our breath.” When we focus solely on our breathing we stop thinking, and that is a miracle already, he contends. In his teachings, he says that because we think too much, we are not truly ourselves and that by focusing on breathing in and out, we stop thinking and begin to be where our body is. Thinking separates our body and our mind, and by practicing this form of concentration we achieve Oneness of Body and Mind, seeing clearly and deeply, that which is true in ourselves.
I call it quiet the noise in my head! And simple, relaxed, conscious breathing helps me to do that every day.
Baby Step #2 on the path to becoming a Wise Well Woman.
So, when you’re feeling overworked and overwhelmed, just stop for a minute, and take a breath. You’ll be surprised by how relaxed you can become!
Try any or all of these techniques and let me know in the comments below how taking a deep breath or two, or three, during your day changes how you feel. Or, maybe you’ve learned some additional ways to use breathing to create relaxation? Share your tips here, too.