It is a vital, innate function, but we do it without thinking. Breathing is an unconscious and involuntary act. And although breathing is something that we do continuously throughout our lives, in general, we tend not to give it the importance it deserves. “It may be that we simply do not know the impact it has on our daily lives. That is why it is important to talk about the true importance of breathing and how to breathe correctly,” he tells us. Sara Garcia (@sarayoga.journey), Vinyasa Yoga teacher, who explained to us how you can even influence our mood.
The first question we ask ourselves is why, despite its importance, we do not give breathing the importance it really has. “Mainly because it is an automatic process that we carry out from the moment we are born, which means that we do not pay attention to it unless someone points out its importance to us. Also for the lack of knowledge about how to breathe correctly or how our breathing can affect our life,” the expert tells us.
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Can you learn to breathe better?
The question, therefore, is clear: can we learn to breathe better? In Sara García’s opinion this is: “Without a doubt.” And he adds that, in fact, we can learn to breathe better at any age, not necessarily from a young age. “Through practices such as yoga and meditation We can learn to breathe better not only during practice, but also in our daily lives. And I emphasize our daily life since, sometimes, we leave a yoga class where we have been breathing consciously and deeply, but when we return to our routine, we put on ‘autopilot’ and go back to it. breathe shallowly and quickly, generating stress in our body. To change this ‘autopilot’, which, as its name suggests, is automatic, the best we can do is start breathing consciously”explains the yoga expert.
The slower and deeper our breathing, the more calm we will be bringing to our body.
What should we do to breathe well?
As the expert explains to us, the most important thing we must do to breathe correctly is mainly use our diaphragm to breathe. Likewise, the slower and deeper our breathing, the more calm we will be bringing to our body.
“On the other hand, the most important thing we should not do is breathe using only the upper part of our lungs, which is known as shallow breathingl. The reason why this last breath is not recommended is because since they are shorter breaths, they limit oxygenation, increasing our levels of muscle tension and stress in the body,” he comments.
Read also: Relaxation and breathing exercises with ‘guru’ James Nestor
© sarayoga.journeyWhat is called conscious breathing?
Conscious breathing refers to paying attention to the way we inhale and exhale air. “For this, we do not need to do a meditation practicebut rather it is something that we can do in our daily lives while carrying out daily activities,” he tells us.
Breathing and mood
Such is the importance of breathing that it can even influence our mood. “The way we breathe affects our nervous system. In those moments when we are more nervous, we notice that our breathing is more shallow, which negatively influences our mood. Likewise, when we are more relaxed, we breathe deeper and slower, which activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for relaxation in the body, positively influencing our mood,” explains Sara García. .
Furthermore, in a very graphic way, it offers us another way of explaining it, which would be by understanding that our mind and our body are connected. “If our mind is agitated and our breaths begin to be shorter and shallow, our body receives the message, and begins to generate tension in the body. Likewise, if our mind is calm and our breathing is deep, our body receives the message and remains relaxed,” he indicates.
If our mind is calm and our breathing is deep, our body receives the message and remains relaxed.
Yoga and breathing
What is a fact is that yoga cannot be understood without thinking about breathing. What’s more, in Sara García’s opinion, the most important part of yoga practice is breathing, not the asana practice itself, as we tend to believe. “If we do not pay attention to breathing during an asana practice, we are limiting ourselves to performing physical exercises,” he tells us.
And he summarizes the reasons why breathing is so important in yoga practice:
- Breathing helps us deepen the asanas and to maintain our attention in the present moment, avoiding distractions and possible injuries.
- Through deep, conscious breathing, we can release accumulated tensions both in our body and in our mind.
- Conscious breathing decreases the production of cortisol in our body (the stress hormone).
- Controlling our breathing gives us clarity and mental stability, which translates into general well-being of our body and mind.
- It gives us stability of balance and concentration postures in inverted postures.
“The benefits of breathing consciously are many and learning to breathe better is very simple, so today is a good day to start applying all these tips,” he concludes.
