Breath - Week 1

How often do we think of how we are breathing? do we ever consider the quality of our breath?

The breath is a powerful tool readily at our disposal, and by spending a little time looking at how we are using our breath and then noticing the effect ii can have, we can make good use of this very powerful tool.

It benefits us to be aware of the different areas that are available for us to breath into, and to be able to direct the breath to the area of our choosing when we want. In yogic terms the tummy breath is the calming breath and may be the one you notice you are using before you go to sleep. The thoracic breath is the invigorating breath and is often the one we will use when tackling a big problem. Shallow breathing, into the upper chest is where we breath when we are in panic mode. Each individual will have a natural tendency for either thoracic or tummy breathing,there is no right or wrong, but to be aware of which area the breath is using enables us to change to suit different situations.

Calm controlled breathing can take us out of a stressful state.

The controlled breathing we use at the start and the end of our class can offer great benefit and is worth practising regularly.The out breath is longer than the in breath, the ratio to aim for is the count of 4 in and the count of 6 out. This helps to keep the blood healthier by taking out more carbon dioxide, it also has a calming effect. If practised for 10 minutes uninterrupted it will reset the stress tolerance level.

Breath well