Always find the right space and the 15 mins needed to give this gift to yourself. Keep your journal and pen next to you to take notes after your exercise is finished.
This exercises will help you with Belly Breathing
Our natural way of breathing is like the babies. They breathe with their belly not their chest. In fact, if you see your baby chest breathing this will be a sign of alarm, wouldn’t it.
Somewhere along the line we forgot how to breathe properly and our breath became shallow and fast. Today we are going to remember how to belly breath again to naturally relax the body and ease our mind.
If you breathe with your chest, you’re taking shallow shorter, faster breaths. Not great but still does the job. By getting the air in the deeper part of the lungs, you’ll actually get 10x more air with each breath. This will be a slower, longer breath—but of a normal sized. This means, nothing too dramatic.
If you are not sure wether you are a belly breather o a chest breather simply do as follow:
Exercise1
Sit in a chair, straight but in a comfortable posture.
Place one palm on your chest and the other palm on your stomach (below the rib
cage and above the navel).
Take some normal breaths. Which hand or hands move? If you’re not sure, look in
the mirror.
If the top or both hands are moving, then you’re a chest breather. If the bottom
hand moves, you’re getting a fuller breath. In either case, follow along to get the
most out of your belly breathing.
Exercise 2
You are going to learn a movement that gently stretches muscles that run between
the ribs—naturally hinging the ribs open so you can get a more full breath.
Reach behind your chair with your arms and bring your hands together.
Relax the abdominal muscles so your stomach can move outward as your lungs
press on the stomach cavity.
.
Notice if there’s more movement in the belly. It’s that easy.
If you didn’t notice any belly breathing, try this posture: raise your arms above
your head and clasp your hands behind your neck. This opens the chest area and
makes taking a deeper breath easier.
Try both and check which one feels more comfortable. Use ir when ever you need a little breath stretch.
Exercise 3
How should you practice or use Belly Breathing?
Try practicing for 1-minute at a time, three times a day to start.
You can notice when you feel tense or stressed, and do a minute right then.
Pay attention to your posture, especially if you’re sitting at a computer.
Practice while standing up or lying down.
Journal
What time(s) of the day can you practice this breathing?
Are there any challenges you see to using belly breathing?
How does your head, belly or chest feels with the exercise?
How would this breathing benefit you?
Thank you ___(your name)___ for this mindfulness practice.
May I continue to look deeply into my mind, my heart and body
May all beings everywhere be happy and free and may my actions and thoughts contribute in someway to the happiness of others.
By
Angela Quinones-Teran
Tranformational Coach
ICF EMCC
www.educationhall.co.uk
The EH Group was born out of the need to implement imminent change by becoming a source of courses, training and programs that aim to contribute to providing tools, frameworks, mindset, approaches…
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