Keep your lungs open..
Do not hold you breath..
Keep breathing…

My fitness instructors keep repeating this every time they demonstrate an exercise. Each time they say that, I check my breath and realize that I was holding my breath. Just breathing normally or mindfully made the exercise so much more easier. 

Drawing attention to the breath helps us calm our mind. It apparently aids in shifting our focus from the physical/gross existence to a subtle level of existence. 

Breath has an intimate relationship to the overall movement of life energy throughout the entire body. Hence, in Yoga practices, breath is of paramount importance. 

The most profound change at birth is a baby’s first breath. The first few breaths a baby takes may be shallow and irregular but they will soon become deeper and regular as the baby adjusts to breathing on their own. At this point, your baby’s lungs, which were filled with fluid during pregnancy, must suddenly fill with oxygen from the air. The fluid in the lungs is removed through the blood and lymph system, and is replaced by air. Baby’s lungs must be able to exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide. At the same time, vigorous blood circulation in the lungs will begin. The first few breaths after birth may be the most difficult breaths a baby will take for the rest of their life.

In spite of all this, our first reaction to pain, fear, anxiousness etc is to hold our breath. Why is that? 

Fear makes us tense and hold our breath and we are all familiar with the reaction – “Phew, the danger is over, now I can relax and exhale”, and we let go of the air in a sigh of relief. How strange! 

Holding our breath is like a reflex action to any of these undesired feelings. Our breathing is restricted because of increased tension in the muscles responsible for breathing. These include the thoracic diaphragm and some of the abdominal, chest, neck and shoulder muscles. Unfortunately this further leads to an increase in that undesired feeling. And the cycle repeats. 

I read in  medical journals that, we can either increase or decrease pain simply by using our breath. When we get tense, pain increases. Applying Conscious Breathing will relax our body and diminish the pain.

The moral of all that I read up in order to write up this blog is that, being mindful and aware of our own breath is as important as any other activity that finds top priority in our list. It not only maintains the equilibrium, it also keeps the unwanted thoughts away. 

Getting back to where it all started, benefits of breathing properly during exercise include: (As mentioned in the article: Proper Breathing During Exercise , linked below) 

• Exercising more comfortably, safely, and for longer periods
• Preventing injuries such as hernias, spikes in blood pressure/strain on blood vessels, and back pain
• Increasing blood flow throughout the body
• Increasing your ability to relax
• Helping you let go of distractions and stay focused on your exercise 

Let us breathe our way into a healthy life! 

I am linking some of the articles that I enjoyed reading while looking up for details about this topic:

Why Do I Hold My Breath in The Spire Health Blog  

Waiting To Exhale  in Psychology Today

Proper Breathing During Exercise in the fitness section of Summit Medical Group. 

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