Are you breathing as deeply as you could be? Harness the power of your breath to improve you respiratory, cardiovascular, and mental health, and much more!

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In this episode, I discuss:

• 00:52 - Bombarded with breathwork!
• 02:33 - The trouble with tech.
• 04:37 - Habitual and postural considerations.
• 05:90 - The many benefits of a breath practice!
• 07:33 - Do we need top pay to learn to breathe?
• 08:27 - Meditation Practice: Mindful Awareness of the Breath

Episode transcript: "...for this week's musings, I want to talk about breath, intentional breath, breathing practices, breathwork, pranayama.

If you are not living under a rock, you have probably seen the many, many different types of content, workshops, classes, free downloads that you can take related to breathwork.

It is a huge fad right now.

And I want to spend a little time today talking about some of the potential benefits of breathwork.

Is breathwork really all that it's cracked up to be?

We'll do a little breathwork practice together at the end.

And then over the next four weeks, each episode, we'll do a deeper dive into one of the components that we chat about today.

And then we'll do a more specific breath practice related to whatever that is that we're chatting about that particular episode.

And I invite you to keep reflecting, maybe keep journaling throughout these consecutive episodes about how these breath practices are working for you, what you're noticing in your body or your life, the practices that are working better, the ones that are providing a little more challenge, and then reflecting on that at the end and maybe putting a more regular breath practice into your routine.

Of course, modern routines, for so many of us, involve at least a little time and for some of us, a lot of time engaging with technology, engaging with devices.

And there are a few things that happen when we spend time engaging with devices, whether that be a phone, tablet, laptop, desktop, computer.

One is that we can lose an awareness of our posture.

So if we are sinking down into the couch, taking in some TV time, or if we are hunched over a cell phone, doom scrolling the news, as we move into this more rounded posture, we inherently are losing a little bit of our ability to take a deep breath.

And then in addition to that, if there is something very intense or something that we are hyper focused on, we may also be taking a shallower breath because of that, or we may be holding our breath because of that.

And then on top of both of those things, if we are taking in that more intense content, there can also be a stress response.

And as our parasympathetic nervous system slides more toward that fight or flight response, that can also push us toward a shallower breath.

And there are other times in our day, times in our routine that may also change the way that we breathe.

So depending on how we sit at a desk or how we ride in a car, that can also change the way that we breathe.

How much time we spend exercising or how much time we spend doing intentional breath.

Many of us have just sort of in a way forgotten how to breathe deeply.

And yes, there are many, many benefits to breathing fully, breathing deeply, breathing slowly, breathing intentionally.

So first, if we think simply about the physiological process of breathing itself, breathing is something that we have to do to stay alive.

And if we can potentially move ourselves back toward a more natural breath, more like our ancestors may have done, that may be more fully supporting our body's tissues and functions.

So we're increasing our lung capacity, we're improving our oxygenation, we're enhancing our carbon dioxide elimination, and this in turn is supporting our whole physical being.

And then because our respiratory health is so closely tied to our cardiovascular health, there's also some potential benefits for our hearts.

So folks who do regular breathing practices have something called improved heart rate variability, and we will take a deeper dive into that later.

But it's a good way to assess someone's cardiovascular fitness and resilience to physical stress.

And then we also see lowered blood pressure in folks who do regular breathing practices.

And perhaps the most interesting for me personally is the interplay with the nervous system, and using an intentional breath practice to stimulate the vagus nerve, to improve vagal turn, to activate the parasympathetic nervous system response to spend more time in that fight or flight, and then the cascade effects from all of these, the respiratory health, the cardiovascular health, the nervous system response.

We see things like improved hormone function, reduced pain sensitivity, better digestion, improved sleep.

So even though there is a lot of content out there that's really trying to play this up and get you to buy the course and do the thing, because it's absolutely going to fix your life for $49, I do actually think that there is a lot of value to a breath practice.

There are a lot of free resources out there.

There are a lot of books out there.

There are a lot of affordable practices out there.

So I would encourage you to move through these next episodes of the podcast with me and practice those and then also look around and see what else you can find.

Online content, are there workshops in your community?

Again, really explore and find which breath practices work best for you.

So for today, I just want to keep it super simple.

We're going to do a little mindful awareness of the breath because you know how much I love and value mindfulness.

And then just a simple deepening of the breath as we continue to keep our awareness present.

That's it.

So as always, you can do this meditation in any shape or gentle movement that feels good for you.

We are going to be focusing on this sort of feeling of breath coming and going from the body.

So a standing or a seated shape might be a little easier to observe than lying down, but it's totally up to you.

Make it yours.

Find what works.

Get comfy.

And as you start to move toward whatever shape you are choosing for today's meditation practice, seated, standing, and.

As you start to move toward whatever shape you are choosing for today's meditation, seated, standing, lying down, or walking slowly through a familiar area.

I invite you first to bring a gentle awareness to where you are connected to the surface you are resting on, feeling your feet on the earth, your seat on your chair, or your back on your mat or cushion.

If it's comfortable for you, perhaps allow the gaze to soften or the eyes to close.

And then begin to bring a gentle awareness to the sense of your breath.

Notice where the breath enters your body.

Notice that feeling of the air coming in through the nose or the mouth.

Notice that air entering through your nose or your mouth.

And then notice the feeling of it traveling into the body, traveling into the lungs.

How does that inhale feel?

What sort of movement does that inhale create?

Where does the air travel to?

Take a moment to pause and notice a few of your inhales.

Inhales.

And begin to notice the feeling of air as it leaves the body.

Where do you experience movement?

How does that air feel as it leaves the nose or the mouth?

Take a moment to notice a few of your exhales.

And as you continue to keep yourself focused on this experience of your own breath, as it comes and goes, begin to lengthen and deepen with each breath cycle.

Invite the air in a little more fully, expand a little more broadly.

Let the air go a little more slowly, completely.

As you continue to keep your awareness here on the experience of your breath in this moment, and as you continue to lengthen and deepen your breath.

Perhaps make your exhale longer than your inhale.

Thank you for watching!

Continue to breathe, allowing your awareness to stay here in this moment.

Notice without judgment when the mind wanders, and come back to your breath.

Come back to your full inhale, and slow exhale.

Notice gently if the mind wandered.

If so, that's okay.

Bring yourself back to an awareness of your own breath in this moment.

Feel your inhale, feel your exhale.

Allow yourself to soften back to a natural breathing rhythm.

Expand your awareness to the rest of your body.

Notice again the connection of your foundation to the surface that you are resting on.

If gaze is soft or eyes are closed, slowly blink or flutter eyes back toward fully open.

Take a moment to reorient yourself to your surroundings.

And if you like to reflect on the practices, maybe spend a moment thinking about how that felt for you, how that worked for you.

Maybe spend a moment journaling.

Maybe think about how you could take a more intentional awareness of your breath or a slower, fuller breath into the rest of your day.

And I will see you next time for a deeper dive into breathwork..."