All day, every day we breathe… but do we pay any attention to our breathing and what small shifts could we make which would transform the way we feel and move through each day?
We breathe approximately 20,000 times a day (the average person) and the way we breathe directly impacts the functioning of our mind-body system.
An excellent new book ‘Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art’ connects ancient wisdom with modern science and unveils potent insights about breathing.
Here are two takeaways that you can begin to practice today:
Breathe through your nose
The most efficient way to refresh and fuel the body and activate internal systems in a balanced way. The nose clears, heats and moistens air for absorption, filters unwanted pollutants and triggers hormones and chemicals for blood pressure and digestion regulation. Ancient Chinese and Yogis taught that inhaling through the nose is crucial for balance and vitality. Nestor (the author of ‘Breath’) experienced poor sleep, low energy and thirst when experimenting with a period of solely mouth-breathing. Simple and effective, bring awareness to your natural breath and encourage breath in and out through your nose. I’m a fan of a long sigh out through the mouth now and again but generally speaking, throughout the day and night, nasal breath is the goal and pathway to steady, calm and clear.
“It turns out that when breathing at a normal rate, our lungs will absorb only about a quarter of the available oxygen in the air. The majority of that oxygen is exhaled back out. By taking longer breaths, we allow our lungs to soak up more in fewer breaths.”
James Nestor, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art
An easeful slow breathing pattern is optimum, try fewer inhales and exhales in a smaller volume. For resilience, endurance and longevity, the ancient philosophers and monks and the modern day researchers agree: slow longer exhales, a relaxed chest and belly. Fewer breaths means we don’t overwork and disturb the flow and balance of our systems. Anyone can benefit from breathing slowly and peacefully with longer exhales than inhales for a few minutes a day (or much longer) to “feed our bodies just the right amount of air, at just the right time, to perform at peak capacity.”
Small shifts lead to powerful transformations. Explore breathing through your nose predominantly, slow down and breathe less and observe how you feel at work, in your wider life and at rest.
ps. Evolving into the humans of today, we have developed sophisticated vocal communication capacities which has simultaneously reduced our airways – our lips became smaller and the larynx sank to make more space for sounding; the brain grew bigger and the nose began to protrude with narrower nostrils rather than remaining wide and cavernous.