Proper breathing strengthens our immunity, rejuvenates the body, fights chronic diseases and prolongs life. But this is such a natural process for us that we underestimate its importance. Doctors and yogis are sure that this is a wrong approach. Unlike our heartbeat, we can control our breathing, which means we have the opportunity to improve our health.

The editors of the site share interesting and useful facts about proper breathing.

What is proper breathing and its benefits

Correct breathing is abdominal breathing, when the stomach is filled with air, not the chest. In this case, the inhalation should be quick and short, and the exhalation should be longer (2-3 times longer than the inhalation). The breathing rate should be slow.

Abdominal (diaphragmatic) breathing has its advantages:

this type of breathing calms the nervous system;

the blood is saturated with oxygen;

the person feels more energetic and alert;

Heart function improves and blood pressure returns to normal.

Abdominal breathing is characteristic of all children, but adults most often breathe shallowly and use the chest in the process. This type of breathing is also called costal breathing. At the same time, it is believed that men are more prone to abdominal breathing, and women – costal breathing. But young people have a mixed type of breathing.

10 Interesting Facts About Breathing and Its Health Benefits

It is a known fact that without access to oxygen a person can live no more than 7 minutes. After which he will lose consciousness and irreversible changes in the body will begin, which will lead to death. But that's not all we need to know about breathing.

We have compiled for you a useful selection of facts about the importance of breathing for human health:

The nose is a kind of filter with 4 stages of cleaning. Thus, the air is cleaned of harmful microbes and heated to the desired temperature.

If a child breathes through his mouth all the time, this causes problems with the upper respiratory tract and leads to intellectual retardation.

Due to the habit of mouth breathing, children develop a lisp and malocclusion. Nasal breathing improves brain function. It is especially harmful to breathe through the mouth in an urban environment, as the penetration of harmful gases increases.

Proper breathing according to the yoga system can help you lose excess weight. This happens due to the fact that the metabolic process in the body is established.

If you need to calm down and get rid of anxiety, then you should take a few slow and deep breaths and exhalations. In this case, the exhalation should be longer than the inhalation. This is especially helpful before speaking in public.

Exercising increases lung capacity, which allows you to saturate the blood with oxygen faster. You will be able to walk and climb stairs without any problems, and your overall well-being will improve. Swimming, skiing and running - these sports are especially useful for increasing lung capacity.

If you do not regularly ventilate the room, then microbes multiply in it. They enter the human body through breathing and cause infectious diseases. Therefore, it is necessary to ventilate rooms even in the cold season.

In order to breathe correctly, you need to monitor your posture.

Holding your breath is good for your health. It improves blood circulation, lung function and gas exchange. To do this, you need to exhale, inhale, exhale again, hold your breath and inhale.

Deep and slow breathing will help you cope with insomnia and fall asleep faster. This type of breathing perfectly calms the nervous system.

How often do we stop noticing the little things we are used to? But some of them are of great importance. For example, breathing. Agree, rarely does anyone pay attention to correct breathing, do exercises, or know the techniques. And this knowledge is useful for health and general well-being. How to breathe correctly and why - we will talk in this article.

There are several types of breathing, breathing techniques and exercises, and many of them originate in the distant past. Which ones exactly and how to follow them - let's figure it out.

Breathing exercises

Breathing exercises are a specific sequence of breathing exercises. With its help, diseases of the bronchi and lungs are treated, and the osseous-ligamentous system is strengthened. The general condition improves: activity and concentration increase, it becomes lighter, and physical indicators are better. Given that breathing exercises can be performed for 30 minutes a day without much effort, the effect is felt almost immediately, and the visible result will not take long to appear.

Such practices are very specific, have many types and, if performed incorrectly, can cause harm. You should be careful and careful when choosing your method of treatment with breathing exercises. Consult your doctor and choose a block of breathing exercises that suits your body.

To more fully reveal the possibilities of gymnastics, let's look at what types of breathing exist:

Upper- breathing through the upper chest. The diaphragm hardly moves down, and the abdominal muscles barely tense.
Average- air enters the body due to the expansion of the middle section of the chest. The abdominal muscles contract more strongly, the diaphragm barely moves down.
Lower- involves the lower chest. The diaphragm is lowered down as much as possible, and the abdominal muscles are relaxed.
Complete- combination of all previous types of breathing. Maximum filling of the lungs with air occurs.
Reverse- when inhaling, all actions are reversed: the abdominal muscles are tense, the diaphragm goes down. The internal organs are compressed and massaged.
Delayed- breathing, in which there is a delay in the “inhale-exhale” cycle. There are several options for this breathing:
- inhale, hold, exhale;
- inhale, exhale, hold;
- inhale, hold, exhale, hold.

The latter method is actively used in yoga, since the ancient masters of this teaching believed that at the moment of holding the breath, the body is filled with energy and strength.

So, we know the main types of breathing - now let's talk about the types and differences of breathing exercises.

There are many types of breathing exercises, but they all work according to the following principles:

artificial difficulty;
holding your breath;
slow breathing.

In other words, everything is based on weakening breathing, due to which the benefits of breathing exercises arise.

As a young opera singer, Alexandra Nikolaevna Strelnikova, together with her mother, developed a method for restoring her singing voice, as problems began with it. The technique turned out to be useful not only for vocals, but also for the body as a whole.

How to do Strelnikova’s breathing exercises correctly? Before you begin, you should prepare the venue: it should be a bright room with clean air and an open window. It is better to do exercises on an empty stomach or half an hour after eating.

The essence of Strelnikova’s technique- in every second sharp inhalation through the nose, which is accompanied by a number of exercises. Such an inhalation should be active, strong and noisy - “sniffing the air.” Exhalation is imperceptible and happens on its own.

Necessary set of rules:

With each breath, the shoulders move not up, but down.
The nostrils should close as if they were being pressed. They must obey you and be under control.
Gymnastics should be carried out until it begins to tire you, as long as there is pleasure.

At the first lesson, the exercises should be performed for 4, 8 or 16 sharp breaths. Rest between exercises - 2-4 seconds. For one approach, the average number is 32 breaths, with a rest break of 2-4 seconds.

When training for two weeks, you can increase the level of training to 4000 breaths per day, dividing the series of exercises into three parts, performed in the morning, lunch and evening. After you feel a significant improvement in your health, you can reduce the number of breaths in the exercises, but you should not stop exercising at all.

If you feel worse, the disease worsens - it is better to perform this set of breathing exercises while sitting or lying down for 2, 4, 8 breaths with a break between them of 2 or more seconds.

Strelnikova’s gymnastics affects the lungs, bronchi, skin and vocal apparatus and treats the corresponding diseases: bronchitis, pneumonia, stuttering, scoliosis, spinal injuries, diseases of the genitourinary system and even neuroses.

The method of breathing exercises by Konstantin Pavlovich Buteyko is based on the principle of “breathe less.” It has been clinically proven that this approach can treat over 90 diseases, the main cause of which is a lack of carbon dioxide in the body. The author himself called his approach “the method of volitional elimination of deep breathing.”

All exercises in the Buteyko system are based on holding or shallow breathing. The goal is to reduce the need for oxygen and saturate the body well with carbon dioxide.

Standard breathing exercises using the Buteyko method:

Inhale - 2 seconds.
Exhale - 4 seconds.
Breath holding - 4 seconds.

At the same time, you will experience a feeling of lack of oxygen - this is normal. This state is an integral part of Buteyko breathing exercises.
The breathing itself should be light, unnoticeable, unlike Strelnikova’s technique, absolutely silent.

This type of gymnastics copes well with bronchitis, pneumonia, adenoiditis, skin pathologies, Raynaud's disease, obesity, rheumatism and many other diseases.

To find out your condition according to the Buteyko system, perform the following experiment:

Take a very normal breath.
Hold your breath as long as you can.

If the delay lasted less than 20 seconds - this is bad, from 20 to 40 seconds - satisfactory, from 40 to a minute - good and over 60 seconds - excellent.

Naturally, before using such breathing exercises, you should consult a doctor and find out whether such loads are suitable for you.

In addition to solving problems with internal organs, breathing exercises solve aesthetic problems, for example, fighting excess weight. A special series of exercises, a special technique and their daily implementation will give you strength, energy and will be able to remove extra pounds.

This type of breathing exercise is much easier than running or strength training, so applying it in everyday life is much easier and more enjoyable. Classes can be held at any time and anywhere. However, it is worth consulting with your doctor, as not all exercises will be beneficial. For example, if you have injuries to the spine, cardiovascular system, or during pregnancy or breastfeeding, you should not resort to the help of such gymnastics on your own. But you can exercise under the supervision of a doctor or instructor.

The first results from weight loss exercises will become noticeable within two weeks. With intensive training for a year or more, they will affect your overall well-being and health in general.

The main types of gymnastics for weight loss include:

qigong- spiritual and breathing practice of three exercises for getting rid of excess weight;
pranayama- a system of yoga exercises to get rid of everything unnecessary in the body;
bodyflex- Childers Grieg based on aerobic respiration;
oxysize- modification of bodyflex without sharp exhalations and inhalations, a more gentle technique.

The main exercises in this gymnastics are “dollar”, “cat”, “abdominal press” and “scissors”. All of them are especially useful for women after childbirth.

As we see, within one type of gymnastics there are several varieties. To avoid making a mistake in choosing and choosing an effective method, consult your doctor.

Despite such a rich range of breathing techniques, there are general instructions for all types of exercises:

Constant and regular training.
Classes should only be held in a good mood, abstract from everything that can cause negative emotions.
You can’t give up training for a long time, but it’s better to keep the same training pace that’s convenient for you.
. The most ideal option is to exercise outdoors or in nature in a clean area.

The last point is especially important, since without clean air there is no point in such breathing exercises. What if you live in a polluted area and frequent trips to nature are impossible?

One option is to exercise at home if you have an air purifier installed. Even better - because it has three levels of filtration against dust and dirt, allergens and harmful gases. It supplies a stream of oxygen, so necessary for breathing exercises, already purified from street dirt. Such equipment constantly maintains fresh and clean air in your home, which will help you practice breathing practices.

Marina Korpan’s technique is based on bodyflex and oxysize - a combination of proper breathing with muscle stretching:

Inhale through the nose while drawing in the abdomen.
Exhale calmly through the mouth with maximum air release from the lungs.

Marina also practices holding her breath for 8-10 seconds, which helps saturate the body with carbon dioxide, the importance of which we have already discussed in the method of Konstantin Buteyko.

Practice for 15 minutes a day and you will soon get the first visible results and sensations. The most important condition for the technique is constant and regular training - do not skip or postpone classes for a long time. Otherwise, the effect will be either minimal or not at all.

It is better to eat food an hour after training. If you plan to exercise during the day, then the practice will be beneficial two hours after a meal or an hour before a meal. Your advantage will be mild malnutrition - the body will be fresh and ready for exercise, during which you will realize that you are full.

You cannot do such breathing exercises in case of bleeding, glaucoma, or high blood pressure.

Bodyflex exercises with Marina Korpan are easy to find on the Internet.

Yoga originates from ancient times and helps not only to feel your body, control your emotions and mind, but also to comprehend your spirituality. One of the steps of yoga is breathing.

Yoga breathing exercises use full breathing with consistent muscle tension:

The starting position can be any: sitting, standing, lying down. It is important to remember that you need to sit with a straight back and straightened chest. Lie down on a hard surface, breathe only through your nose.
Exhale sharply, while the lower abdomen is drawn in.
Inhalation also begins from the lower abdomen, then comes the upper part, the ribs move apart and only then the chest expands with a slight lift of the shoulders.
Exhalation phase: draw in the stomach, exhale, lower the ribs and chest.
Inhalation and exhalation are light and free - as much air as necessary for comfortable breathing should come in. This exercise is mastered gradually: from 20 seconds to 2 minutes a day. Later you can reach 8-10 minutes a day.

Another type of breathing yoga exercise is cleansing breathing:

Inhale as deeply as possible through your nose.
Then hold your breath and after a few seconds, exhale a small amount of air strongly and rarely through your mouth. At the same time, the cheeks do not swell, and the lips are closed.
Hold your breath again for a second and exhale a second breath.
Do this until you have exhaled all the air you have. Repeat the exercise 2-3 times a day and you can strengthen your lungs, and, therefore, your entire body.

If this technique turns out to be closer to you than others, sign up for yoga in your city and, under the supervision of an instructor, do not only breathing practices, but also muscle stretching. This will have a positive impact on both your general well-being and overall health.

To better enrich the body with oxygen, use belly breathing or diaphragmatic breathing. At the same time, the chest remains motionless, the stomach protrudes and relaxes as you inhale, and retracts as you exhale.

To understand how to breathe correctly with your stomach, do the following set of exercises:

Lying on the floor, place your right hand on your chest and your left hand on your stomach. Start breathing with your stomach, expanding it as you inhale and relaxing it as you exhale. The right hand remains motionless. The left one moves up and down.
Change the pressure as you exhale. Take a light, normal breath, close your lips and slowly exhale as if you were calmly blowing on a candle. The stomach should retract as much as possible.
Reverse technique - exhale sharply with the sound “Ha”. The sound should come from the lower abdomen.
Place a book no more than 1.5 kg on your stomach. Continue breathing, holding your breath for “one-two-three” both while inhaling and exhaling. This exercise will strengthen your abdominal breathing and abdominal muscles.
“Dog”: get on all fours and begin to breathe sharply and quickly with your stomach. This will allow you to better feel the diaphragm and control its operation in the future. The exercise is done briefly so as not to cause dizziness.

Belly breathing, dynamic exercises and prolonged exhalation are excellent for the treatment and prevention of diseases of the pulmonary system. Breathing exercises for the lungs fit perfectly into several exercises.

Exhale into the water. Take a glass of water, place a straw in it, take a normal breath and slowly exhale the air through the straw. Exercise develops the mechanical properties of the lungs and normalizes gas exchange. This should be done no more than five times a day for 10-15 minutes.
Hug yourself. Starting position: standing, feet shoulder-width apart, arms out to the sides, palms up. Inhale and as you exhale, quickly cross your arms in front of you so that your palms hit your shoulder blades. Exhale quickly and loudly.
Firewood. We stand on our toes, bend back with our hands raised up, fingers clasped. We inhale and, as we exhale, sharply bend down, as if chopping wood, then return to the starting position. We also exhale strongly and loudly.
Skier. Starting position: feet shoulder-width apart. We rise on our toes, slightly move our body forward, and also stretch our arms in front of us, as if they were holding ski poles. As you exhale, we bend down slightly, as if we were pushing off, move our arms as far down and back as possible, and in this position we spring on our legs for 2-3 seconds. We complete the exhalation and return to the starting position with a diaphragmatic inhalation.

The main tips to learn how to breathe correctly. Why is it important for the health of the body to breathe through the nose, directing air to the upper abdomen?

The Importance of Breathing for Health

A healthy breathing process due to the direct expansion of the lungs and the movement of the muscles of the diaphragm provides micro-massage of the internal organs, while improving the functioning of the digestive and circulatory systems. However, most people breathe incorrectly.

Improper breathing significantly reduces the percentage of oxygen absorbed by the body from the air. A number of scientific studies show that modern man receives only half of the amount of oxygen that the body needs for normal functioning.

How to breathe correctly?

Breathing that forces air into the chest rather than into the stomach is incorrect. In this case, the diaphragm muscles do not move up and down, but forward, squeezing and limiting the lungs. In addition, this method of breathing forces you to breathe through your mouth rather than your nose.

Remember how children breathe - they breathe through their nose, and when they breathe, the upper part of their tummy lowers and rises, while their chest practically does not move. This type of breathing is called “diaphragm” and is the most natural for humans.

How to learn to breathe correctly?

Take the most comfortable position for you - sitting, standing or lying down. Place your left hand on your chest, your right hand on your stomach. Try to breathe normally. Spend a few minutes observing how you breathe and whether your stomach or chest moves as you breathe.

If your stomach does not move, lightly massage it with your palms in the navel area, while trying to breathe so that the air allows your stomach to “open up”. Also make sure that your breathing is deep and done directly through your nose and not through your mouth.

Why shouldn't you breathe through your mouth?

In fact, one of the main functions of the nose is to filter the air entering the lungs. At the same time, mouth breathing practically does not filter the air, allowing both too cold and hot air, as well as various particles of dust or microbes, to enter the lungs.

Don't be surprised if nasal breathing seems "uncomfortable" to you - give your body a few days and it will restore normal function. Just try to spend a few minutes every hour consciously breathing through your nose rather than your mouth.

Breathe with your diaphragm

In the process of diaphragm breathing, not only the muscles of the diaphragm itself are involved in the work, but also the abdominal muscles of the press, muscles of the chest, shoulders and neck. All of these muscles are extremely important not only for healthy breathing, but also for proper posture.

The main postural disorders caused by a weak diaphragm are open scissors syndrome and hourglass syndrome. In the case of the latter, the lower ribs and pelvis seem to tighten, causing the center of the abdomen to collapse inward, minimizing the arch of the lower back.

Short inhalations and long exhalations

A healthy breathing cycle consists of a deep inhalation lasting 2-3 seconds, followed by a long exhalation for 3-4 seconds and a final pause of 2-3 seconds. Breathing should be rhythmic and as silent as possible.

The most correct is to perform 8 breathing cycles per minute - slow and measured. Mouth breathing with chest movement usually tends to be rapid - about 10 cycles per minute, since the body is chronically lacking oxygen.

The importance of correct posture

the site has already written that constant sitting leads to poor posture. However, the same factor also affects the breathing process - being in a “hunched” position, a person begins to breathe through the chest, and not through the stomach.

Body position during sleep is also critical for breathing. Sleeping on your back is considered the healthiest, using two pillows - a small pillow under the head and a medium-height pillow placed under the hips and elevating the pelvis.

Improper breathing significantly reduces the body's oxygen supply. To restore the skill of proper breathing, it is enough to pay attention several times a day to whether you are breathing through your nose or through your mouth, and whether your stomach moves in the process.

The release of air from the oral cavity, which is not filtered from germs, microscopic dust particles and, exposes a person to infections and situations, and impairs mental performance.
It has been noticed that children with adenoids and polyps when breathing through their mouths learn educational material much worse, in addition, they lag behind in physical development from peers who do not have a similar problem.

How to breathe correctly

So, we found out: how well we can breathe will depend on how well we feel. Now let's look at the technique of the correct process.

Correct breathing technique

First you need to understand your own breathing technique. To do this, either sit in a comfortable position or lie down. Place your palm on your stomach and observe your inhalation-exhalation cycle.

If your stomach rises as you inhale and falls as you exhale, your technique is correct. Otherwise, you should practice to correct the process.

So, the cycle of a healthy process:

Inhale - two to three seconds.
Exhale - three to four seconds.
Two to three seconds is a pause between cycles.

Important! Measured diaphragmatic breathing of about eight cycles per minute completely satisfies the entire body’s need for oxygen.

Improper breathing and its causes

There are many reasons why people can breathe incorrectly: the most common ones are usually related to health - these are diseases of the nose: sinusitis of all types, chronic sinusitis and rhinitis, other inflammations of the mucous membrane, adenoids and polyps.
When the nose is stuffy, the mouth inevitably participates in the process of air absorption; when inhaling, the stomach is drawn in, and when exhaling, vice versa. Very little oxygen is supplied, the air is not purified, not brought to the required temperature, as with the nasal process.

Another reason may be the desire to appear slimmer, while many people keep their abdominal muscles in constant tension, trying to draw in their rounded belly as much as possible.

The same situation occurs with excessively tight clothing; it especially complicates the process in a sitting position.

All the muscles necessary for a correct healthy procedure are tense, a person is forced to breathe shallowly, which is fundamentally wrong.

How to learn this?

Learning healthy breathing techniques is not difficult, the main condition is to take it responsibly and practice for fifteen minutes every day, this time is quite enough.

Did you know? When breathing too frequently, too deep and intense a cycle, the production of gastric juice is stimulated, thereby provoking a feeling of hunger.

Breathing practices and self-observation

When learning to practice, the main point is awareness of your own actions, observation of them and your own feelings.

So, during training, lying on your back, try to “hear” and focus on the following points:

air is drawn in through the nostrils, enters through the nasopharynx into the larynx, trachea, and fills the lungs;
lingers for some time;
smoothly, slower than during inhalation, the air flows back;
try to feel each stage, whether there are any interference or feelings of discomfort, even record the sound you make while inhaling and exhaling.

Exercise for training the deep abdominal process:

lying on your back in a relaxed state, breathing with your stomach;
on the right deep breath, you should feel the pelvis moving backwards; on exhalation, the pelvis seems to rise;
The breast is practically not involved in the process.

To make it easier to restrain the chest, you can tie it tightly for a while, for example with an elastic bandage.

Important! Do not forget to breathe with your stomach: inhale-the stomach protrudes, exhale-retracted.

Morning breath for weight loss, classic complex:

take a sitting position;
inhale deeply, lasting four seconds;
we stay for the same amount of time;
exhale - smoothly, four seconds;
repeat the cycle ten times.

lying position;
quick breath;
six second delay;
exhale slowly with abdominal tension;
repeat the cycle six times.

do not change position;
one deep breath, then two short ones;
four second delay;
deep exhalation, followed by two short ones;
repeat - ten times.

Cardio loads

Cardio training and proper breathing are two inseparable things. Cardio exercises cause the heart muscle to contract more intensely, and it flows faster through the blood vessels.

A person can live without food and water for several days, but if his access to air is cut off, he is unlikely to survive more than a few minutes. From which the conclusion suggests itself: breathing is the basis of life. The duration and quality of our life depends on how correctly we breathe.

The importance of proper breathing

A person does not realize that he is breathing until he specifically remembers it
Stephen King

The importance of proper breathing is often underestimated. We take breathing for granted; we have stopped paying attention to this important process in the life of the body, not to mention being aware of it or trying to comprehend it analytically. It is so familiar to us that no one will consciously observe the process of inhalation and exhalation, except when it comes to spiritual practices.

This is where the process of breathing is truly given its rightful place. Therefore, for those who want to find out complete information about what breathing is, how it can be consciously controlled, there are two ways - to figure it out on your own, studying the experiences of people described in books, articles and videos, or to study spiritual practice, for example yoga, face-to-face or by correspondence.

Proper breathing for the health of the whole body

Proper breathing for health not only helps to strengthen the respiratory system through breathing exercises, but also has a general strengthening and healing effect on the entire body. Breathing techniques, meditation and vipassana practices are useful for physical, psycho-emotional and mental development.

For human physiology, respiration plays a key role, since thanks to this process oxygen enters the body and carbon dioxide is removed as a waste product. The process of transporting oxygen molecules to cells, its uniform distribution and concentration in the body depends on how correctly and consciously you breathe.

The importance of oxygen in the respiratory process

There is no need to talk about the fact that oxygen is necessary for the body. At the same time, people usually do not think about the lack of carbon dioxide, which can negatively affect the functioning of the body as a whole, since it is generally accepted that only oxygen is omnipotent and is considered almost synonymous with life itself.

This is not entirely true. Oxygen is necessary, but only when it is balanced with carbon dioxide. An insufficient amount of carbon dioxide means that the resulting oxygen cannot be absorbed by the body. Proper breathing is responsible for the uniform distribution of O2. It often happens that as a result of too short, shallow chest breathing, a large percentage of the oxygen received during inhalation is wasted. It did not reach the cellular structures, remained unabsorbed and will leave the body on its own when exhaled. The system does not work efficiently.

The benefits of carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide regulates blood flow.
As the CO2 content increases, the blood vessels dilate, which facilitates the rapid delivery of the required O2 to the cells.
The level of O2 in the blood determines whether hemoglobin will give oxygen to tissues and receive oxygen from them, and carbon dioxide acts as an indicator to which part of the body to add the desired element.
CO2 is necessary to regulate blood pH. It helps monitor the composition of the blood so that it is not too acidic, which leads to acidosis.
A sufficient level of CO2 in the blood stimulates the breathing process itself. If the oxygen level has dropped, the body does not perceive this as a signal to fill it with a new portion of O2. Only when the CO2 level rises does the body realize that it needs to add O2, and the breathing process continues.
CO2 is responsible for metabolism, the functioning of the endocrine system, blood composition, protein synthesis and the construction of new cells.

It has been noticed that with sufficient physical activity - running, swimming, gymnastics - the level of carbon dioxide in the body increases. The normal level of CO2 in the blood is 7%, not lower. In elderly people, a reduced CO2 content is noted, up to 3.5-4%, while the entire body suffers. By increasing the CO2 content in the blood to normal levels, it is possible to reverse many diseases and rejuvenate the body at the cellular level.

The yogic breathing system is built on the correct distribution and regulation of the ratio of both gases in the body. We will tell you how this happens below.

Correct breathing is characterized by the ability to distribute prana

Correct breathing is, first of all, the ability to distribute prana throughout the body, which came from the environment along with inhalation. It would be appropriate to recall the very concept of prana. Prana is by no means identical to the element O2, although it can easily be confused with it. The content of both substances in the human body directly depends on the correct breathing and is regulated by the respiratory process.

Prana is that energy invisible to the eye that comes from Space. All living organisms are filled with it. In fact, life itself on Earth would be impossible if there were no Prana. She is the source of life.

Although prana is not mechanical energy, due to the lack of more suitable terms in the vocabulary of our materialistically conditioned consciousness, we have to operate with familiar words from the field of physical sciences, such as energy, current, channels. Prana itself is a deeply spiritual concept, and thanks to it, our existence in the physical body becomes possible. The functioning of all systems depends on its level, the current through the nadi channels in the body.

Basics of proper breathing

The basics of proper breathing depend on how we distribute the prana that enters the body through inhalation. The concept of prana is well known from yoga texts. Thanks to them, we have the knowledge that we use in practice. The fourth stage of yogic practice - pranayama - is devoted to the management and distribution of prana in the body. It directly follows the practice of asanas (the third step of the Ashtanga yoga system).

Yogis understood the importance of the breathing function precisely from the standpoint of the entry and distribution of pure prana energy throughout the body. For them, the breathing process was not limited to the consumption of oxygen and the removal of carbon dioxide from the body. First of all, the flow of prana entering the body is the most important component of the breathing process.

Correct breathing technique. Exercises for proper breathing

There are many systems in the world that teach proper breathing, but none of them have yet been able to compete with the practice of pranayama. Most modern methods that promote proper breathing techniques are, in one way or another, based on yoga practices.

Pranayama is holding your breath after inhaling or exhaling
Patanjali, Yoga Sutras

Pranayama

What scientists have only recently begun to comprehend, discovering ether and other substances that confirm the immaterial basis of the universe, has long been known in the yogic tradition.

Prana and its control are the basis of the practice of pranayama. The pranayama technique always includes four components:

Rechaka - exhalation;
Kumbhaka - holding the breath while exhaling;
Puraka - inhalation;
Kumbhaka - holding your breath while inhaling.

Moreover, it is kumbhaka that distinguishes pranayama from ordinary breathing exercises. If kumbhaka is not used, as is customary to do in the initial stages of mastering pranayama, then, in fact, this is still just preparation for it. Pranayama itself always includes holding your breath. In yoga teacher courses, this topic, as well as the associated meditation practice, is discussed in more depth and is always supported by practical mastery of the material.

This is where we return to our conversation about CO2. What gas accumulates during breath holds? Carbonic. Thus, in the practice of pranayamas this element plays an important role.

Types of pranayamas

It has already been said that you should not devote all your time to developing the volume of your lungs and increasing the temporary holding of your breath. You need to start gradually, with simple breathing observation techniques, and after some time you can include techniques such as:

Anuloma Viloma - alternate breathing through the right and left nostrils;
Viloma is less well known, but well prepares for performing other pranayamas and for full yogic breathing;
Bhastrika, or blacksmith's bellows - powerful breathing ventilates the lungs;
Kapalabhati - emphasis is placed on vigorous exhalation, promotes the removal of CO2;
Apanasati Hinayana - stretches the breath, especially good for meditation practice;
Samavritti pranayama, or “square breathing” is a basic pranayama with a huge number of variations.

Proper breathing during meditation includes proper yogic breathing

When starting to practice meditation, you first of all take a Vipassana course. Correct breathing during meditation is the key to successfully immersing yourself in a state of disidentification with the stimuli of the outside world. It is best to begin any yogic practice by mastering correct yogic breathing and “square” breathing, when inhalation, inhalation hold, exhalation and exhalation hold are equal in time. You can and should use the pulse of your own heart as the rhythm and timing of all four stages of pranayama.

You can start with a ratio of 1:1:1:1, where you take a certain number of heart beats per unit. Usually they start with four. You can gradually increase the number of blows taken per unit.

Often, after exhalation, the delay is not performed, so the “square” can consist of only three components - inhalation, retention, exhalation. They can vary, for example 1:4:2. If you imagine that this is a pulse ratio, where four beats are taken per unit, then we get the following: inhale - 4 beats, hold - 16 beats and exhale - 8 beats. Experienced practitioners can use the following count: inhale - 8, hold - 32, exhale - 16.

By controlling your breathing, it is much easier for you to enter a meditative state. Thoughts will stop jumping and you will focus on the breathing process. This will help concentration. Thus, you will simultaneously begin to practice the sixth stage of yoga - dharana.

Correct belly breathing

Correct breathing in yoga is called full yogic breathing, and the work involves:

abdominal region (here we talk about diaphragmatic breathing);
chest;
clavicular.

The advantage of this breathing is that the air fills the body as much as possible. Breathing ceases to be shallow, as if you were using only the thoracic region or the thoracic and clavicular.

Inhalation begins with a gradual filling of the abdominal region with air, smoothly moves into the thoracic region and ends with a sigh in the clavicular region. The process of exhalation is the same gradual, but in the opposite direction. The air leaves the clavicular region, then the thoracic and abdominal regions. In order to push out the air as much as possible, it is recommended to perform Mula Bandha.

Full correct breathing in yoga

An extremely important point that determines the correctness and depth of breathing in full yoga breathing is the work of the abdominal muscles. They shouldn't be relaxed. Although it may be easier to perform full breathing with a relaxed abdomen in the initial stages, regular practice of full breathing with relaxed abdominal muscles can lead to chronic abdominal wall deformity. At the same time, there is no massage of the internal organs, which naturally occurs if the abdominal muscles are at work during inhalation and exhalation.

Full yogic breathing stimulates blood circulation in the abdominal cavity, again releasing stagnant blood into circulation. When the diaphragm lowers, as during the correct execution of full yogic breathing, this sets in motion the venous circulation, which has a beneficial effect on the work of the heart, unloading it.

Instead of a conclusion

The benefits of proper breathing, including the practice of pranayamas, are too obvious to be ignored. By mastering the art of breathing, we not only heal the body, but also work with prana, opening up new opportunities for spiritual growth. With regular practice of pranayama, your yogic practice will reach a new level, and you will not be able to imagine your life without daily breathing exercises.

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