Vidyamala’s online course, Mindfulness for Women, starts on March 1.
Breathing properly can be instantly beneficial because most of us tend to hold our breath when we face stress and pain, whether it’s mental, emotional, or physical. Let’s try a quick exercise:
Make a fist with one hand and notice your breathing. You’ll likely realize you’re holding your breath. Now, imagine breathing into that fist. What does it want to do? It probably wants to relax a bit.
This fist exercise represents any type of stress or discomfort. When we aren’t mindful, we naturally tense up and hold our breath in response to life’s stresses. This leads to a cycle of increased tension and breath-holding, which can cause physical symptoms like headaches and tension in the neck, back, and shoulders, or even gut problems. Becoming aware of your breathing and consciously directing your breath into these areas of tension can help to gradually soften the tension and ease the stress.
Breath-holding shows up in various ways, with shallow breathing, breath-holding, or over-breathing being the most common issues. For instance, when working at a computer, we often breathe as if constantly in fight-or-flight mode, resulting in hormonal imbalances. This could be thought of as “screen apnoea,” similar to sleep apnoea, which alters our breathing, causing shallow or infrequent breaths. This can negatively affect our health.
Whether you feel stressed at work, have poor posture, or just need a break, these breathing pattern disorders can arise. Breathing is the most crucial physiological function we perform. It impacts your heart rate, gut, blood pressure, digestion, and musculoskeletal system. Consciously changing your breath using mindfulness can significantly benefit your body’s physiology. It can greatly enhance your health by reducing headaches, easing shoulder pain, and strengthening your core.
How are you breathing right now? Often, when stressed, we don’t fully exhale. Try this exercise to help:
Place a green dot somewhere you’ll frequently see it around the house, or on the side of your computer screen. Every time you see the dot, breathe out and relax your jaw. Inhale through your nose and exhale through your nose. Pause, and let the next breath come naturally, like a wave gathering before it flows up the beach. Breathe in and fully breathe out. Repeat several times.
Details of Vidyamala’s online course, Mindfulness for Women: Declutter Your Mind, Simplify Your Life, Find Time to ‘Be’ are available on the website.