Cycling Average Cadence
Did you know that you can adjust your breathing to fit your situation? Generally, we move through our lives without a conscious effort to breathe.
Breathing is an autonomic process we don’t have to think about unless we have some sort of health challenge. Most often, a change in the intensity of breathing is simply the reflection of kind of significant change in physical exertion.
While most of us perceive our breathing as efficient, it can often be less than optimally effective. With practice, you can develop simple skills to enhance your energy level, sustain mental focus, as well as unwind and relax stress and tension. My guest consultant this month is Cyndi Bulka, a local Yoga and meditation teacher and owner of Moving Mantra Yoga Studio, located in North Raleigh. She will review three techniques to facilitate these processes.
Effective breathing involves a thoughtful practice of “Breath Awareness”. This most basic breathing practice involves an understanding that we breathe in patterns that can vary with the seasons, time of day, or our physical and emotional states. We breathe in a pattern that radiates from our navel center and permeates the full dimension of our body; front to back, side to side, up into the chest and down in to the pelvic abdomen. The breath can be divided into four phases: active inhalation, suspension, active exhalation, and rest. All of these elements of the breath can be sensed by simply reclining on your back, and feeling the movement of the breath within. In and of itself, this practice of Breath Awareness is relaxing and beneficial to the nervous system.
Varying the length of the different phases of the breath can lead to a different quality of energy in your body and mind. Whether you are feeling dull and exhausted and need a pick-me-up, are feeling anxious and nervous and wish to calm yourself down, or are needing to balance your energy to remain centered and focused in any given situation, the following practices can be utilized for specific effects. Try lying down in a comfortable position, or sit tall in a comfortable chair to experiment with these simple techniques.
The average breath has a cadence that spans over 10-12 seconds. Try creating a pattern with a 3-4 second inhale, pause for 1-2 seconds, exhale for 3-4 seconds, and rest for 1-2 seconds. Repeat this in a 10 breath cycle. From this pattern you can adapt according to the state of energy you wish to achieve. Be careful to relax in to the practice and to avoid forcing the breath in either direction so that you are not strongly pulling up on the inhales, nor pushing down on the exhales. Should any of these practices create a feeling of tension in the body, please return to a relaxed, unmanipulated breathing pattern.
Balancing Breath- This is a grounding exercise that steadies the mind and body. Work towards establishing a rhythm where all four phases are of equal duration. For example, a 4-count inhalation, pause, exhalation and rest.
Energizing Breath- This reduces lethargy and increases sharpness of the mind by lengthening the active inhalation and the suspension of the inhalation. For example, try an 8-count inhalation; a 4-count suspension, a 4-count exhalation and a 2-count rest.
Calming Breath- This allows your body and mind to slow down and relax. Try extending the length of the active exhalation and linger in the resting phase of the exhalation cycle. For example; a 4-count inhalation, 2-count suspension, 8-count exhalation and 4 count rest.
After you attempt a technique, revisit your breath awareness. Notice the rhythm of your natural breath, the sensations in your body as your breathe, your mental and emotional states. With further practice you can develop simple, innate tools to better manage life’s challenges.
About the Author:
Dr. Howie Shareff (http://www.youcallthisyoga.com)has been passionate about relationships in his career, family, and community. These relationships supplied him with perspectives on thousands of people’s health habits. He found that emotional stress and physical strain were tolerated but not addressed. These problems, combined with his own issues ( physical challenges from treating patients, recreational sports, and arthritis), led Dr. Shareff to create a beginner’s yoga DVD. The goal was to provide a program that allows anyone to practice yoga anywhere, anytime.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Fine Tune Your Breathing
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