Controlled breathing exercises can greatly influence your mind
and body, and is a very practical way of managing stress. By
focusing on your breathing, you naturally shift you mind away
from thoughts that may be upsetting you. It is widely believed
in the medical community that regular breathing has a calming
and energising effect on the body and is highly recommended for
dealing with stress related health problems.
A very easy breathing technique that is used in some forms of
meditation is abdominal breathing. To start off, simply close
your eyes and connect your tongue to your palette. Inhale air
through your nose into the bottom of your lungs. When done
correctly your abdomen expands slightly. Hold for a moment and
then exhale through your mouth or your nose. If you exhale
through you mouth, your tongue will naturally detach from the
palette. As you exhale, your abdomen will contract. Hold again
for another moment then inhale again. Repeat this 10 times. If
you start to feel light-headed while practicing abdominal
breathing, stop for thirty seconds, and then start up again.
A common mistake is to breath in a rapid shallow manner where
the focus is mainly around the chest. By focusing on your
abdomen while inhaling and exhaling, you are promoting deep
breathing. As you get better, you can control the amount of time
taken to breathe in and out, as well as the time taken between
inhalations and exhalation by counting. For example, breathe in
for 6 counts, hold for 3 counts, breathe out for 6 counts, and
hold for 3 counts. As you improve you will be able to extend the
number of counts.
Regular practice of abdominal breathing will increase your lung
capacity and help you to breathe more deeply. It will also
become a very useful tool that you can use whenever you feel
stressed, anxious or something upsetting occurs in your life.
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