Bringing Awareness to the Breath

Breathing… such a basic human function we barely think about it. But which done consciously, it can have a great impact on changing how you show up during the day. 

Breath work is a meditative tool and technique that many people use in day to day life. Breath work is about bringing attention to the breath. Working with the breath is a powerful tool because our breath impacts our role in the nervous system and our whole bodies. 

People can very quickly feel the physiological impact of changing their breathing. Most people have probably been instructed to “calm down and take some deep breaths”, at least once in our lives. The rhythmic aspect of breath work also can give it a somewhat hypnotic ability over our minds. 

There are many different kinds of breath work you could include in your practice, such as box breathing, alternate nostril breathing, lion's breath, and many more. You could also just focus on your breath as your breath “normally”. Breathing through your nose or mouth has different effects. For example breathing through your mouth can put you into fight or flight mode, as evolutionarily, people primarily breathe through their mouth when they are running for their life. Too much mouth breathing can increase your stress. 

Breathwork is a really good way to start adding little bits of meditation to your day and re-ground yourself when you might not be in a place to go into full on meditation mode. Start by sitting (or standing if you need) in a comfortable position that does not obstruct your breathing. This might mean you need to unbutton the top button of your pants for full breath access. Ideally, sit with good posture in a way that does not require lots of muscle tension (as relaxation is likely the goal). Close your eyes. I recommend starting with a body scan to see what areas feel tense, and allow those areas to relax. 

Then focus on the breath, breathing in through your nose, and out through your nose or mouth. Feel the air as it moves into your nose. Allow the air to enter deep into your belly with our force. As you breathe in, let the air fill first your belly, then your lung space and upper chest. Notice the still space at the top of the breath before you let the air out. Then, slowly release the breath. 

You can also try incorporating some visualization by imagining breathing into the different parts of your body that felt tense at the start of your practice. As you breathe in, imagine the air as pure light moving through you. Let it fill the spaces that feel tense and circulate the light around that area. Imagine feeling the light opening up the space and releasing what, in that area, no longer serves you. Imagine the light releasing the tension and leaving a feeling of ease in the area. As you breathe out, imagine the tension leaving your body though the breath moving out between your lips. Keep consciously breathing for as long as you would like. 

Start off with a couple minutes and slowly increase your practice. Or use breathing as the first part of your meditative practice to help get into the body.