Have you heard that long, deep breaths will force your body to calm down, relax, and lower stress? What about how many toxins proper, deep breathing releases from your body and how great it is for your health and your skin?
Yoga and other eastern practices have always promoted the power of the breath…. and I understood the health benefits too! But, funny thing, whenever I would try to breathe deeply, I actually felt more stressed!! I couldn’t figure it out, but something click the other day – it turns out I was doing it all wrong.
Watch the video to find out if you’re making the same mistake!
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPlcyzhaX7U
For the sequels to this video, please see these other excellent breathing techniques:
Try this Breath Technique for a Stimulating Pick-me-up that’s Better than Coffee!
Want to Balance Your Brain? Try Alternate Nostril Breathing
How’s your breathing? Are you doing it properly?
26 Responses
I guess I am lucky to understand that we need to breathe from our belly 🙂
thanks to singing, I do breathe from the belly! 😀 “don’t raise your shoulders when you breathe!”
an exercise that I learned (for singing) was called a 360 breath. put your hands at your waist. (like you’re angry at someone) with the thumb going around to your back. When you breathe, feel your front, sides, and back expand when you do this, against your entire hand. hard to explain but hopefully it’s understandable!
LOL I breath from my chest :/ I suppose I can practice belly breathing a little, I do get stressed super easily so I guess I could do something like this to help, hehe I dont want to obsess over EVERY thing I do but I guess theres no harm in breathing a little deeper XD
I just do it now when it pops into my mind, but hopefully that’s enough to train my mind to do it on autopilot!
I sing too and have always known that I breathe totally wrong but it is hard to change! 😉 I’m sure I would sound ALOT better if I were to start breathing from the diaphragm! So…..I have a question that is totally off this topic but if you have a chance to give me ANY feedback, it would be really helpful!–I was wondering if herbal supplements can effect your hormones? I have been taking Golden Thread (Coptis Chinesis) for about 8 weeks–given to me by my naturopath–and some strange things have been happening. Not to go into too much detail here 😉 but my breasts have become ALOT larger and are always sore, I have started breaking out on my shoulders, back and chest–which I NEVER do–and I get my period every two weeks. ???? The only thing that I am doing differently in my life in the past couple months is that I’ve added Golden Thread to my supplements. Any thoughts?? The whole period thing is making me really nervous and I wonder if I should stop taking this? Thanks so much! (I know this is a random question!)
I find this very interesting that all these singers knew the secret! I’ve always considered myself to be a pretty bad singer, but on the other hand, I love singing and always wished I was better. I notice that I sound a lot better and almost good when I stand up and sing…. maybe I’d actually be decent if I started breathing and singing from the belly as well! This will have to be investigated!
As for the Golden Thread… that’s very interesting. There definitely are supplements that can influence your hormones (Vitex, DIM, Dong Quai, Maca, etc), but I personally don’t know anything about Golden Thread. Those are some weird symptoms… what were you taking it for in the first place? I’d maybe try and take a break from it and see if you go back to normal and if you do, then yeah… maybe try to find a different supplement for what you were using it for? (if that’s possible)
Hey Trace!….thanks for the input! I was taking it to help with candida–it is supposed to be good for that. Part of me thinks that my body just doesn’t react well to herbal supplements. I had to be rushed to the doctor after taking Maca ONCE, I was so sick. And I remember taking Saw Palmetto in the past and having really weird symptoms too, kind of like the ones I have now. I stopped taking it two days ago and hope things will go back to normal! And that’s funny about singing, I can’t sing sitting down either! I always wonder how people do that, I have to be standing up!! 😉
Hmm yeah I would back off for a while and try something else!
As for singing, apparently sitting squishes your diaphragm or something and makes it that much harder…. this is probably why I always thought I was a crap singer… because I tend to do most of my singing in the car!
for me, the breathing technique that should theoretically be de-stressing but i somehow never really got the hang of was Ujjayi breathing. i was taking some yoga classes at a studio last year, and they never really explained it… the teachers acted as if it was understood that you know what that is if you’re taking yoga! so i was just imitating everyone.
Interesting… I’ve never even heard of Ujjayi breathing until you just mentioned it…. is it different than this? The long deep breath into the belly?
Hey,first of all,congrats on your success with acne.I have a mild problem with it too and your website helps so much.Speaking of yoga,do you know any good book about it?
Thanks and again,congratulations!I am so happy for you.
Thank you! I know you’ll get clear too!
Do I know any good books about it?? well… I wrote my own ebook about nutrition and clearing your skin with food… so check that one out! 😀
https://thelovevitamin.com/books
You are the cutest person I have ever seen. Keep doing what your doing haha.
Also, I use these techniques everyday now. They have greatly improved my mood, life, even sport performance. Thank you!
Wow! That’s awesome to hear Brandon!
I don’t know if this will help anyone else or not, but I noticed that I hold my breath a lot throughout the day without realizing it. When I’m really focused at work or even just stressing over something I notice I am either holding my breath/breathing very shallow and tensing up my entire body. I have made a conscious effort over the past few weeks to take multiple deep breaths throughout the day and be aware of my breathing overall. I have noticed it instantly relaxes my entire body and gets me to snap out of whatever stressful thoughts I am having. I know that when I’m not breathing correctly, I am not getting the proper amount of oxygen to my brain that it needs! Therefore causing stress on my body, which effects my digestion/overall stress levels. I have noticed that just learning to relax throughout the day/not looking too closely in the mirror after showers (or looking at all!) and just not focusing so much on my skin has helped me a lot. I think my skin problems are definitely a combination of genetics (from father)/hormonal imbalances (recently went of birth control) and digestion, but I know that my high intensity/stress levels do NOT help with balancing those things. Also, cutting back on dairy has made a noticeable difference and just leaving my skin ALONE (not picking or touching) helps a lot.
P.S! Tracy, my sister ordered me a jar of Manuka Honey for Christmas. I can’t wait to try it! I have been doing a 100% organic honey mask with aloe vera as moisturizer at night and love the way my skin is feeling. Can’t wait to try the Manuka honey. Thanks for creating such a great site for information!
Hi Sheri! Hey!!! I’m really glad this tip has helped you so much! That’s awesome 🙂
Weird. I noticed a few weeks ago that I hold my breath a lot too. Sometimes it’s just cuz I don’t feel like breathing.
I also noticed that when I am too much concentrating on something (like for example my maths or something like that) my whole face tightens. It such a weird feeling but I’ve happily learned that if I do breath trough my belly it helps a lot. Thank you.
Hey Tracy, I was wondering… Does the position you are in affect the breathing? As seen in your video, you’re sitting a chair, but would it for example work if you’re lying flat down or on your side in bed? 🙂
I sometimes do that while I’m in my bed and I can breath normally but is this less effective than sitting on a chair?
No, I don’t think the position matters much for the deep breathing.. it might be harder if you are slouched forward.. I think spine relatively straight is better..but you can be on your back, side, whatever
Does it matter if I breath through my nose or my mouth? I do get a stuffy nose during winter so.. Breathing through my mouth is sometimes my only option.
Well, technically the reason we breathe through the nose is because the nose has a filter for dust/particles/whatever. Lol – but if you can’t breathe that way, Adel, then you do whatever you need to do to get oxygen and stay alive!! :p
Haha, I see. 🙂 Well, I don’t have a stuffy nose anymore soo… I’ll try and breath through that.. Besides, I’m trying not to be a mouth breather.. It’s never fun to be one if you have bad breath! ;(
Thanks for the video Tracy! I am going to follow Elliot Hulse (Elliot Hulse on YouTube) his advice with regards to deep breathing (and bio energetics). For reading on this topic he recommends ”Language of the body” by Alexander Lowen.
I love Elliot Hulse! 🙂