Check that you’re breathing correctly

Inhale, exhale – sounds simple enough. But experts say most of us are doing it wrong and losing out on great health benefits

WE DO it as often as 20 times a minute, and around 30 000 times in a day, without a second thought. Breathing is such a vital part of life but unless we have a cold or are running a marathon we barely notice our lungs taking in oxygen.

This is a shame because correct breathing techniques have long been associated with psychological and physical benefits – such as reducing stress and anxiety – thanks to increased blood and oxygen flow to the brain and body. According to experts, most of us are losing out on this health boost because we’re simply not breathing properly.

Check what happens to your body when you inhale. Do your shoulders and chest rise up towards your chin? And does your stomach tighten slightly, pressing in towards your abdominal wall and making you look slimmer and trimmer?

If so, you’re a vertical breather, according to US clinical psychologist and breathing guru Belisa Vranich – just like most people. And you’ll be surprised to know this isn’t a good way to breathe.

Vranich says we all breathe correctly when we’re born, but after only a few years – five or six – we start to pick up bad habits.

With life comes stress and anxiety and we pull this tension into our shoulders. We also suck in our stomachs to impress anyone who might be looking at our figures, and the net effect is we end up taking shorter and smaller breaths.

If you want to breathe properly, you need to think horizontally. Your breathing should centre on your stomach and engage your diaphragm – the dome-shaped sheet of muscle and tendon that separates your chest from your abdomen.

Vertical breathing isn’t going to kill you, but Vranich says it’s been linked to things such as digestive problems, back pain and high blood pressure, so it’s worth trying to correct it.

She reckons breaking your bad breathing habits can help with a host of problems from fatigue, lack of focus and concentration, anxiety, depression and having trouble sleeping to gastrointestinal problems such as irritable bowel syndrome, constipation and acid reflux.

BREATHING properly is just as important as eating well, says Limpopo-based family physician Dr Ntodeni Ndwamato. Like Vranich, she believes we do ourselves damage by worrying about our looks.

“A flat stomach is considered attractive, so women in particular tend to hold in their stomach muscles. This interferes with deep breathing and gradually makes shallow chest breathing seem normal, and this leads to an increase in tension and anxiety.”

There are of course other health problems that can make matters worse.

“Breathing is something that happens naturally, but there are certain things that restrict our breathing as well,” Ndwamato says.

Obesity and a lack of fitness can lead to shortness of breath, she points out, and smoking restricts the supply of oxygen to our bodies.

There are also certain illnesses that

cause shallow breathing, including asthma, chronic obstructive airway disease, TB and pneumonia.

Ndwamato advises doing regular breathing exercises, engaging in regular physical activities and keeping tabs on your weight. Smoking is obviously a no-no, and you should try to avoid smoky and polluted areas.

Besides its physical benefits, breathing plays an essential role in how we feel emotionally, says Denise Humphris, a breathing expert at the NGO Art of Living Foundation South Africa.

“More than 80% of the emotional and physical impurities in the body can be eliminated through breathing,” she says. “But most of us only use 35% of our lung capacity and don’t use the potential of the breath to detoxify and cleanse ourselves.”

Humphris says every emotion or mood we experience is felt as a sensation in the body and has a corresponding rhythm of breath. For example, when we’re angry, our blood pressure goes up and our heart rate increases. Similarly, when we’re in shock we tend to hold our breath.

But you can also promote a state of calm with deep breathing exercises. Deep breathing stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system which sends “calm” signals to your brain. It also helps you feel more connected to your body.

BY USING proper breathing techniques we can expand our lung capacity, which increases our energy levels.

Humphris says she’s proof that stress can be relieved with proper breathing.

“I was a workaholic who did very well at work, but when I came home I’d just sit like a zombie. My relationship with my family wasn’t so good and I wasn’t happy or healthy.”

Learning proper breathing techniques helped her turn her life around, she says. And she sees the beneficial effects in her students too.

“One of them was really battling with anxiety, to the point where it paralysed her. We taught her different breathing techniques, working hand in hand with her doctor. She’s much better and is now off the antidepressants she’d been taking.”