My kids joke with me that with any sentence they say, I can break into song using the words they have used, with a bona fida song. And so it is that the subject is Breathing and there is your song. No bonus points this week as it's an easy one!
I had the pleasure of doing more Breath Work with my peer Graeme Wood yesterday. Graeme is a specialist in this area and we had a great session learning more and also partaking in a meditation / hypnotic event. If anyone is interested in knowing more, drop me a line and I can signpost you to his courses.
My friend Stephen, "The Energy Flow Guy", also incorporates Breathing exercises into his work in Yoga and coaching, and into my Thai Massages which are pretty awesome. Am sure Claire, whom a lot of you know too uses it. I will do a wee post about their work soon as they are awesome.
I also use it in my golf mindset coaching in various ways.
Anyway, for various scientific reasons it is of massive benefit to breath through your nose rather than your mouth. I get that there are times when this is not feasible however please do a wee check of your breathing right now. Most of us are nose breathers however there are some mouth breathers that walk amongst us. If that's you then this may help.
Breathing properly also has the ability to regulate our minds and our bodies, which has great health benefits.
I also teach a version of breathing to be used particularly in a time of stress (Red Zone) which brings our stress down so that we have more ability to respond rather than react (a common theme throughout my work here).
If we do it now and make it a habit, then we will be more likely to go to it when we need it. So lets practice.
I would like you to repeat the cycle -
Breath IN for a count of 4,
HOLD for 4,
Breath OUT for 4,
Hold for 4.
Now this 4 is at your own speed. As you do it be aware that the count of 4 may slow down in direct relation to your stress / survival instinct as they reduce.
When we are nice and safe and "Blue Zoned" we can do another breathing exercise to the 6 / 6 count and feel ourselves breath into our tummy which is so much better for us than chest breathing. I have found it great for getting rid of pain in my body and others have used it for emotional pain.
I will be demonstrating this and doing it with you on Sunday night for members here on Zoom if you are interested in partaking. It's pretty cool, very relaxing.
Here is another one for you. This one is to clear your nose. We can all do with that at various times, don't lie. ;-)
Make a fist with your left hand and put it under your right armpit and gently squeeze down with your arm
Put your right pointer finger against your right nostril and gently push in to close
Breath in for a count of 6 and out for a count of 6
Pinch your nose as if you had a nose bleed and whilst holding your breath move your head left and right for 6.
Whilst pinching your nose, now make circles with your head.
Swap sides and do again.
You will find that your nose is less blocked than it was. Works great with colds and hopefully snoring - you know who you are! ;-0
I trust you will find this useful and I hope to see you on Sunday night for my debut session doing this.
Stuart