The Power of the Breath

Anyone who has ever been to one of my yoga classes, will know how much I focus on the breath, whether it’s at the start of class, as we land on our mats from a busy day (or with an even busier mind); throughout the class as we hold, move or transition from one posture to the next; pranayama to focus and calm the mind; or at the end of the class where we allow it to settle as we arrive in Savasana.

On average we breathe 20,000 breaths in a day, and yet how many of these breaths do we actually notice? Most of the time we tend to breathe shallowly from our upper chest, using the accessory muscles in our neck, chest and shoulders (instead of using our diaphragm). This can keep us in a more activated / heightened state (basically not feeling relaxed!)

The amazing thing is that we can use the breath to literally change our physiology, to get it back into a calm and relaxed state. What I love most, is this is something we can do at any time (our lungs are always with us!)

There are many techniques we can use which are great to practice daily, or when you have a moment and need to reset the nervous system and promote a ‘rest and digest’ state. Some of my favourites are below:

a) Longer exhale

When you take a longer exhale than inhale, you activate your vagus nerve which sends a signal to the brain to activate your parasympathetic ‘rest and digest’ state (and switches it from the ‘fight or flight’ sympathetic mode). Even if you do this for just 3 breaths and the exhale is only a few seconds longer (i.e. inhale for 4 seconds and exhale for 6 seconds), it can help to calm the body and mind. Always breathe in and out through the nose (not the mouth). Try this before meals, going to sleep or during a busy day.

b) Box breathing

1. Gently inhale through your nose to the count of 4

2. Hold at the top of the breath for a count of 4

3. Gently exhale through your mouth for a count of 4

4. Hold for a count of 4

5. Repeat steps 1-4, until you feel more relaxed

c) Diaphragmatic breathing (deep belly breathing)

1. Get into a comfortable seated position with a tall spine (reach the crown of your head to the sky) - you can use a block or book to raise the pelvis above the level of the knees, to support the back if needed. Alternatively, lie on the floor with your legs extended (you can place a pillow under the knees to support the spine)

2. Place one hand onto the belly and the other on the chest. Start to breathe in and out through the nose

3. When you inhale, breathe into the belly and imagine it inflating like a balloon, so that the belly expands

4. When you exhale, imagine the balloon in the belly deflating as the navel draws towards the spine

5. Repeat for a few minutes or longer, until you feel calm. Aim to deepen the breath so that it gets longer over time

d) Alternate nostril breathing (Nadi Shodhana)

1. Get into a comfortable seated position with a tall spine (reach the crown of your head to the sky) - you can use a block or book to raise the pelvis above the level of the knees to support the back if needed

2. Rest your left hand on your left knee and raise your right hand to your head so that your index and middle finger are lightly resting on your third eye

3. Use the thumb to lightly press on the right nostril to close it and hover your fourth finger over the left nostril

4. Breathe in through the left nostril to the count of 4, then bring your fourth finger to lightly press on your left nostril, release the thumb as you breathe out through your right nostril to the count of 4

5. Inhale through the right nostril to the count of 4, then lightly press your thumb on the right nostril and release your fourth finger from your left nostril as you exhale through the left nostril to the count of 4

   Repeat steps 1-5 for a few minutes or more, until you feel calm and settled

Also a great book recommendation, if you want to deep dive into how incredible the breath is for us, is ‘Breath’ by James Nestor - it’s an easy read and fascinating!