Proper Abdominal Breathing is a Cornerstone for Holistic Health and Wellness
Most people are shallow chest breathers. They breathe air only into the upper third of their lungs and then they’ve already started exhaling. Over time, this type of breathing can take a toll on the body, contributing to creating illness, or keep you from reaching the level of health you desire.
How does that happen?
Air is necessary for life and it aids in healing. By not breathing deeply and slowly, we shortchange ourselves. The typical chest breather does not fully exhale all the CO2 and waste out of their lungs, nor do they breathe in fully all the beautiful oxygen that their lungs can hold. And, with rapid shallow breathing the O2/CO2 transfer crossing the capillaries isn’t given enough time to complete. With slow, full, abdominal breathing the oxygen exchange is properly completed and your body receives the oxygen it so desperately craves.
It’s all about Abdominal Breathing!
All right, what is the proper way to breathe? The answer is to use abdominal breathing, and actually, you were born doing it. All healthy babies naturally use abdominal breathing. But, on our way to adulthood in our fast-paced, stressed-out society, we have unlearned how to breathe properly. No worries! We can fix this!
Abdominal breathing has two components that are equally as important, the inhalation phase, as well as the exhalation phase. The inhalation phase is accomplished by drawing air into your lungs and allowing them to expand downwards, which allows them to fill completely. Follow this with a slight pause, and then a full and complete exhalation of all CO2 and other gaseous waste. Just as most people don’t inhale deeply enough, they also don’t exhale deeply enough. There’s a lot of old, stale air sitting in the bottom of our lungs that will stay there unless we give it a good push out.
Let’s Break It Down Further.
- First, I’d like you to exhale and deliberately squeeze out all the air that is in your lungs right now. Imagine your lungs as a sponge that you are squeezing all the water out of.
- Now, inhale deeply with your goal being to fill and expand your lungs to capacity. To do this, draw air into your body and imagine it travelling all the way down to your navel.
- Don’t think so much about expanding your chest, but rather, about expanding your lungs downwards and filling your belly. You should see your belly expand as you pull air deeply into your lungs towards your belly button. Inhale as much air as you can and as deeply as you can. When you are full to capacity, strongly exhale all the CO2 and old air out of your lungs.
- As you continue to inhale and exhale deeply, it is even more powerful if you pause for a moment after you fully inhale. This will give your lung capillaries a few precious extra moments to draw even more life giving oxygen into your blood stream.
- Then continue to exhale deeply, freeing up extra real estate in your lungs to fill with clean, fresh air.
What are the Benefits of Abdominal Breathing?
Abdominal breathing will allow you to maximally oxygenate your blood and tissues. By retraining yourself to breath using abdominal breathing – you will be physically stronger, have more endurance, reduce your stress and feel calmer, boost your immune system, and basically improve all bodily functions. Abdominal breathing will help you with your recovery from any illness, chronic or acute.
On an emotional level, taking deep, slow breathes is centering and calming. If you think to try it when you’re upset or angry, you will feel yourself become calmer and more relaxed. The tension will fall away. Abdominal breathing is also a critical beginning step in learning how to meditate.
On a spiritual level, you can allow yourself to imagine the inhaled air as a healing energy and even give it a color, green is great for all healing work, and you can send it anywhere in your body. Imagine the healing green traveling to wherever you need healing. When you exhale, you can imagine that the old air carries with it any illness, negative energy or experience that you want to let go of. Anything that no longer serves you can be released – every time you exhale. Holly teaches how to perform abdominal breathing in the video below along with a great Lung Revitalizing and Immune Boosting Qigong Exercise – check it out!
Give Yourself a Healing Session with Every Breath You Take!
By practicing abdominal breathing, you can transform every breath you take into a mini-healing session. It’s an amazingly powerful health and wellness technique.
Training Yourself to Use Abdominal Breathing.
Training yourself to use abdominal breathing takes time, but it’s simple to do. As soon as you wake up in the morning, even before you open your eyes start your abdominal breathing. See how long you can keep it up as you go about your daily morning preparations. And, abdominal breathing in the shower is exhilarating. Then, as you go about your day, any time you remember that abdominal breathing exists, start doing it. At night, when you go to bed, practice your abdominal breathing, and, it will help you fall asleep faster. The more you practice, the faster your body will learn and begin to do it normally.
Need practice with your training? Introducing the 5 Breath Refresh Technique!
If you want a great tutorial on how to do abdominal breathing and incorporate the practice into your daily life, try my 5 Breath Refresh Technique Audio Program. The 5 Breath Refresh is a simple, yet powerful breathing technique that you can use anytime, anywhere to release your stress, recharge your batteries, and resume your day reconnected to the power of the moment. You can purchase this great 28 minute tutorial that comes with several versions of the 5 Breath Refresh mp3 that you can download onto your phone and take with you anywhere you go. OR, if you join my newsletter, you can receive it for free! Just pop back to my home page and sign up!
I hope this information has been helpful to you.
If you’d like more personalized help with your health, I’d be happy to help you get started on the road to vibrant health. You can email me with any questions, or you can sign up for an initial free Vitality Breakthrough Strategy Session and I can help you determine your next best steps to health! If you’re ready to get started now, check out my health coaching and training services. They are available in-person local to the San Francisco Bay Area, or distance coaching and training is available for non-local clients.
With Love, Holly