Just Breath

This time last year I think most people would have taken breathing for granted, it’s just something your body does. Then COVID 19 hit and suddenly things changed. In this last year there has been much more interest in breathing techniques and way to keep our lungs working to their full potential. You only have to Google pearl divers to see what the human lungs are capable of, some can hold their breath for up to 7 minutes!

There are many different ways of breathing and they all have different affects on the body . Being a pilates teacher I like to teach rib cage breathing when people are first starting out their journey with pilates . We hardly ever just sit for a few minutes taking proper full breaths using our lungs to their full capacity and exhaling out all the way. If you and take a minute or two out of your day to do this you are already doing yourself some good!

Lay down and put your hands on your rib cage, take a big deep inhale through your nose and feel how your ribs expand, when you can’t breath in any more start at to exhale steadily pulling your abdominals in and up squeezing out every last drop of air out like someone is tightening you into an old fashioned corset. Continue this pattern for a few rounds and see how you feel. This also helps work your abdominal muscles not just those you see from the outside but your beep transverse abdominals that help hold your spine and organs In place. So double bonus!

Breathing has been used for thousands of years to help cope with different things from giving birth to anxiety and stress. It has only in the last 100 years or so we have some how forgotten a lot of these techniques as modern medicine has come in and taken over with a pill for every thing! But surely it is better to use what Mother Nature has given us before we turn to drugs for the cure? As with the food we put into our bodies for fuel the way breath can also make a big difference.

There are many techniques to look into are yogic breathing , alternate nostril breathing the list goes on. A great website to look at is James Nestor ( mrJamesnestor.com ) he gives a lot of great examples with YouTube links to them, well worth a look. He also has a book out called ‘breath’ that is great. Another website to look at is Wim Hof ( www.wimhofmethod ) he combines breathing with cold therapy which we will get into another day!

Take care and don’t forget to breath!

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