Breathe better to live better!
The well being market is highly competitive, with everyone trying to offer and sell something. Yet if we look closely, we can distinguish several kinds of well being.
There are all the "passing" kinds of well being, from massage to spa treatments, and on through all the substances many French people use. But in the end, while some of these "remedies" may bring a more or less fleeting well being, they do not answer a real search for lasting well being that could take firm root in our existence.
So why are we so often ill at ease?
It seems that stress, the violent life of the Western world and our inability to live in the present moment cut us off from our deep nature, which is serene, calm and luminous. The more agitated life becomes, the more agitated our mind is, and the further we move from the possibility of connecting or reconnecting with our deep nature.
One thing is clear: if we observe our breathing when we are stressed and tired, we see that we breathe with the upper body, which brings very little oxygen to the brain and makes us spend a lot of energy for very little intake. In the evening, after a stressful day, we feel worn out, exhausted, as if intoxicated, simply because we have breathed badly and have no energy left.
So I advise you to practise this short simple relaxation session and to understand a little better how your breathing works, here.
By rediscovering natural relaxation and natural breathing you will soon feel better, with nothing else, in perfect harmony with yourself and your deep nature. This is open to everyone, simply, even without using Yoga techniques.
Denis Billo
Qualified Hatha Yoga teacher
>> Simple relaxation session
>> Breathe better to feel better and regain your well being.
Let us observe breathing and its qualities.
We have many kinds of breathing in our body:
Breathing with the belly, the ribs, the collarbones, the back...
We have many particular kinds of breathing:
Panting, fast, jerky, deep, silent, noisy breathing.
More surprisingly, we can also notice that there is a direct link between a type of breathing and a psychological state.
The slow, deep breath of the sleeper.
The high, fast breathing of stress or fear.
The jerky breathing of someone crying.
The powerful breath held in the throat at orgasm.
So each state of consciousness has its own breathing.
Mastering our breath will then allow us to control our mind and our states of consciousness, since we have seen that spirit and body interact.
Mastering the breath will help eliminate stress as well as all our psychological states. With a little practice it will lead us into extraordinary states of concentration and physical and mental fluidity.
IN PRACTICE, ON THE PHYSICAL LEVEL
Stress and prolonged sport or work tend to block the diaphragm. The result is a feeling of fatigue and heaviness. When the diaphragm blocks, the whole digestive system works poorly, because it is no longer massaged by the breathing. Moreover, the part used for breathing becomes higher, smaller and harder to move.
We have 3 areas in the body for breathing.
Collarbones: 3rd part
Ribs: 2nd part
Belly: 1st part
The first part uses the belly to breathe: the belly swells (pushes out) on the in breath and draws in on the out breath. In this phase the diaphragm descends on the in breath and rises on the out breath.
The second part uses the ribs: the belly does not necessarily move, but if it does, it draws in on the in breath and pushes out (slightly) on the out breath. Sadly, this is the breathing phase we use most in our lives. Sadly, because it calls on powerful muscles that must move ribs which are fairly stiff, compared with the belly, which is softer and therefore easier to move. Unlike in the first part, the diaphragm rises on the in breath and descends on the out breath, but its movement is small.
The third part is the collarbones: the breathing of the stressed!!
Sadly, it is THE breathing of our world!
It is very high, uses only a tiny part of the lung volume, and takes considerable effort to bring in a very small amount of air. It is therefore suffocating and very tiring. The diaphragm is frozen.
So the first part is by far the best way to breathe. This breathing will:
- Help intestinal transit and digestion
- Help the heart in its movement, since it rests on the diaphragm
- Ease the transfer of blood between the heart, the liver and the lungs, since arteries pass through the diaphragm.
- Finally, bring more oxygen to the whole body and the muscles with great ease.
Best of all, of course, is to do complete breaths that use all 3 breathing volumes.
IN PRACTICE, ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL LEVEL
We have noticed that there is a direct link between our moods and our breathing.
Indeed, each psychological state has its own very particular breathing.
The power of breathing is also that it takes us into our subconscious, because it is one of the only functions of our body that can move from a reflex (subconscious) stage to a controlled and therefore conscious one. I can speed up or slow down my breathing, but as soon as I stop thinking about it, it becomes a reflex again (and just as well for us).
Here we already have an interesting way of understanding that by mastering our breathing we will master our psychological states.
So by deliberately breathing like a sleeper (deep and slow), we have a chance of falling asleep much more easily.
Breathing techniques will allow us to change our psychological states in concrete ways and quickly put us in a harmonious frame of mind for the actions we have to carry out.
Mastering breathing will lead us to an understanding of the breath.
The breath is not breathing: it is its energetic side.
Breathing techniques allow us to discover the level of the energies that govern us, and perhaps give us the possibility of mastering them.
Finally, breath and spirit are very close...
IN PRACTICE...
- Babies breathe in a complete way, starting by breathing in with the belly, then continuing with the ribs opening out, and finally pushing the upper chest upwards. The out breath follows the reverse order.
- But life upsets this order of things, and over time our breathing settles into the 3rd part because the diaphragm blocks and freezes.
- The practice of Yoga will help you relearn how to breathe and regain the well being that naturally follows, feeling fulfilled and full of energy instead of feeling low...
- It will also release the diaphragm and stretch all the internal organs, which will tone and purify them.
- I invite you to rediscover this simple joy in a personal practice at home or in a group.
Feel free to contact me on my mobile: 06 11 10 66 24.
Denis
>> Well being
>> Feeling better every day
NB: If you would like to discuss it, you can come to the forum