Health - .... And Breath

from The Stockbridge Spotlight Issue 109 August/September 2022 Issue

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... And Breathe

By Tracy Griffen

Breathing. It’s something we all do. But how often do you think about it? The benefits that can be gained from becoming more aware of your breath are significant and far-reaching. If you practise breath training, you may find yourself more relaxed, with improved endurance and strength, you can reduce your heart rate and also your blood pressure. It’s such a simple (and free) way to improve your health that it’s staggering we’re not taught effective breathing in school. There are all sorts of exercises you can try; my favourite is the simplest - simply to be aware of taking three deep breaths every hour. It makes you stop and think, and to remember to breathe. Wim Hof, known as the Ice Man, is a new wellness guru who encourages all to try measured deep breathing exercises to oxygenate the system. You can see significant improvement in your muscle power using this method (try ten press ups, take ten deep breaths, then try again) - there’s even a BBC TV series on the Wim Hof method.

Are you a mouth breather, or a nose breather? There can be lots of benefits from training yourself to do more nose-breathing. You nose is actually a very sophisticated filter, that warms and cleans the air that you breathe in. There is a function to nose hairs! Over the pandemic especially, I suspect more people have been mouth breathing (especially when wearing a mask). The bestseller ‘Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art’ by James Nestor is a good place to start learning, with a focus on switching from mouth breathing to nose breathing, and the difference this can make.

Further to this, ‘The Oxygen Advantage’ by

Patrick McKeon is a longer read on the subject, but in the first few chapters you can learn a whole host of interesting exercises. The bulk of the book relates to specific health conditions that improved breathing can help (including asthma, anxiety, menopause, weight loss). Personally I find measured breathing is a good way to deal with stressful situations, or when I need an energy boost. Perhaps I can summarise by encouraging you to take a deep breath right now, and to explore being more aware of your most mundane but powerful of body functions... to breathe.