First of all I need somewhere quiet. A place or space I can call mine. Once I'm there I like to open up my mind to all possibilities. I do this by sitting or lying still. I close my mind to the outside world by concentration on the inside world. A really quick and simple way to do this is to concentrate on ones breathing. Pull your entire focus on your breathing. Notice the frequency and duration of each breath. Next, notice your own unique sound that you make when you breathe and also notice that if you have not already closed your eyes, it's now time to do so.
Some of us are aware of the many converstions going on in our heads. By honing in on our breathing, it makes us aware of two things: first, we notice a crucial bodily function that we do not even have to think about and second, you become aware of your self. When you get really good at noticing your breathing, the conversations will begin to fade and eventually stop.
Now, I'm about to go on a bit about breathing so please bear with me. It seems like a perfectly ordinary thing to do but like I've already said, breathing is crucial to living. In fact, you can go several weeks without food and several days without water but you cannot last more than 3-4 minutes without oxygen.
Bearing this in mind wouldn't it be beneficial if we could breathe effectively ALL the time. I can hear you thinking "this is a bit of a joke" and "what is is this guy on about?" but I can assure you that if you change the way you breathe you change EVERYTHING. You change your mood, your ability to think, the way you digest and the amount of energy you feel you have. If you can feel on top of the world, think freely, gain all the nutrition you can from each meal and live with an abundance of energy then do you think you could change your life! You betcha could!
So this is how you do it guys. Most of the people reading this will be shallow breathers. You allow oxygen to get to the upper third, maybe upper half of your lungs before you exhale. This creates 2 issues. First, you are not maximising each breath and second, you aren't getting oxygen to the area of the lungs that are most effective for you.
To get oxygen to the lower half of the lungs on your inhale, you must breathe by pushing your belly OUT. Yes, I said OUT. At the same time your shoulders must NOT move. The shoulders should be relaxed while you push your belly out. This is the correct way to INHALE. You may like to imagine a sponge or a beach ball inflating inside your belly. Let it all the way out and get your belly to be nice and round. Go ahead, have a go, there's nobody watching!
To exhale correctly, try deflating the sponge or beach ball by squeezing it with your belly. This ensures that all the waste gases are expelled from the lungs.
You will also need to allow time let oxygen get from your lungs and into your blood as well as allowing waste gas (carbon dioxide) to travel from your blood into your lungs. So the correct sequence is:
INHALE, PAUSE, EXHALE
I was taught that you should breathe in, pause for 4 times longer than it took you to breathe in and then exhale in half the time that you paused for. Sounds a bit confusing doesn't it? Basically, if you breathe in and count to 5, pause for a count of 20 and exhale for a count of 10 you'll be fine. You can count as quickly of slowly as you like; just keep the same speed for one cycle of breathing.
Once you've completed 5 cycles of this type of breathing you'll be feeling rather mellow and very chilled.
Once you've started to feel this way we can start to allow ideas and thoughts to enter our minds.
Till, next time... live long and breathe deeply
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