How to Breathe for a Better Life

Likely at some point in your life, you have been told to take a deep breath and calm down. Whether or not those instructions were well received at the time, a good deep breath is known for aiding in the de-escalation of an emotional upheaval. Stress, anxiety, anger, and overwhelm are all good examples of emotions that deep breathing can help alleviate. But did you know you can increase the power your breath has in calming the mind and body? 

As a yoga teacher with almost 2000 hours of teaching a wide variety or students, I can assure you that most do not know how to control their breath at the beginning without practice. This lack of control limits the powerful influence the breath could otherwise have.

If you would like to level up your breath’s power in calming mind and body, here are some easy steps to get you started. 

Step One: Learn how to bring your breath deeper into your lungs

Many new students breathe high in their chest, and you can tell by the way the shoulders go up and down with the breath. This breath that is high in the lungs can actually exacerbate an already stressed nervous system.

To breathe lower in your lungs with deep belly breaths, place a hand on the belly and a hand on the chest. Slowly breathe into the hand on the belly only. If this feels a little too difficult, try lying on your back and putting a book or something of similar weight on your belly. Breathe deep enough to lift the book. Practice until you feel tired and then take a break—no need to stress your lungs. Practice regularly until you can easily take a deep belly breath without lifting your chest and shoulders. 

Step Two: Slow it down

Once you get used to taking the breath lower in your lungs, you will want to practice taking longer, slower breaths. I tell my students to breathe in until they feel like they are stretching their lungs. You can give that a try, or if you want to be able to measure your progress, try counting. Start easy with a count of four on the inhale and a count of five on the exhale (exhales are naturally longer). You will then increase the breath by one count on the next inhale and exhale, and then an additional count on the one after that, and so on. Continue this practice until it starts to almost feel uncomfortable. At this point, try to stay at that count for a few more breaths.

There are a number of breath techniques you can play with as you gain more control over your breath. Here are a couple of easy techniques that can help calm the nervous system further once you have practiced the depth and duration of your breath.

Box breathing: count to four as you inhale, hold your breath for the same count, exhale for the same count, and then leave breath out of the body for the same count (4, 4, 4, and 4). You can increase the count depending on your lungs' comfort.

Victorious or Ocean Breath (Ujjayi): Take a long, deep belly breath and exhale through your mouth with a long “Ha” breath. Pretend you are fogging up a mirror on your exhale and go for as long as you can. That same “Ha” breath can be taken on the inhale as well with the same constriction in the throat–but that takes practice.

Some additional benefits to regular breath practice (also called pranayama in yoga) are improved mental clarity, better oxygenated blood flow, and healthier digestion. Practice your deep, long breaths regularly to bring power to your breath and watch it transform your life.