Breathing techniques are a simple, effective way to reduce stress. When we feel stressed, our breathing becomes shallow and rapid, which can lead to feelings of anxiety and panic. By focusing on our breath and taking slow, deep breaths, we can instantly begin to feel more calm and relaxed.

Breathing techniques

There are many different breathing techniques that can be used to reduce stress, and it may take some trial and error to find the one that works best for you. Some common techniques include counting your breaths, focusing on your breath, and visualizing a peaceful scene.

Technique 1: Count your breaths

1. Inhale for a count of four, then exhale for a count of four.
2. Repeat this pattern until you reach a count of 10.
3. Then, reverse the pattern, counting down from 10 to four.
4. Finally, return to the original pattern of counting up from four to 10.

Technique 2: Focus on your breath

1. Start by sitting in a comfortable position with your eyes closed.
2. Take a deep breath in through your nose, filling up your lungs.
3. Breathe out slowly through your mouth.
4. Repeat this breathing pattern for a few minutes, focusing on nothing but the sensation

There’s no denying that breathwork is an incredibly powerful tool for healing both the mind and the body. But what exactly is breathwork? And why is it such an effective workout?

Breathwork is the conscious awareness of your breath. It’s a practice that dates back thousands of years, with many different variations, styles, and names. But at its core, breathwork provides the opportunity for personal transformation through improved mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being.

Our breath is literally what keeps us alive. Yet so often, we go through the day shallow breathing, denying ourselves our full life force. This can keep us in a state of anxiety or “fight or flight.” Breathwork, or the process of deep rhythmic breathing, moves us out of fight or flight and into the parasympathetic nervous system (which is responsible for regulating activities that occur when the body is at rest, such as digestion and urination).

What are the benefits of regular breathwork?

1. Breathwork can help improve your breathing and overall lung function.

Breathwork can help improve your breathing and overall lung function by increasing the amount of oxygen in your blood, helping to clear mucus from your lungs, and improving the …

About 2 million breathing devices have been sold in Russia over the past decade. The best known is the Frolov breathing device. It has been employed to conquer a large number of chronic health disorders.

Some other facts about successes of the Frolov respiration device:

• They are supported or approved by over 100 GPs, MDs and other health care professionals
• More than 200 breathing clubs have been formed in the largest cities of Russia – evaluated in over 25 successful published clinical pilot trials and approbations
• They have been tried on myocardial infarction, bronchial asthma with weakness of respiratory muscles, acute bronchitis, emphysema, angina pectoris, digestive problems, chronic bronchitis, hypertension, obesity, asthma exacerbations, arthritis, stroke, children asthma, diabetes, psychological disorders, cystic fibrosis and many other chronic disorders
• Published clinical pilot trials and approbations discovered its efficiency for less wheezing, reduced coughing, reduced inflammation in airways, diminished shortness of breath, improved digestion and partial or complete normalisation of the FEV1 (forced expiratory volume in 1 s electrocardiogram, renovasography measurements, body antioxidant defence, heart rate, blood pressure, cardiointervalography results, and other important biochemical parameters.
• They are approved by the FDA and patented in the USA (USA Patent No. 5,755,640 from May 26,

Several weeks ago, I saw a television program that dealt with meditative breathing. As I watched the program I became more and more intrigued. The concept was to use meditative breathing to control the core body temperature while the participant was immersed in a bathtub full of ice. The result was amazing.

The participant was able to keep his core body temperature at a normal level while immersed in the ice. I figured that this was because he was accomplished at meditative breathing; however, the host of the program after a bit of training was able to accomplish the same feat.

This program started my thought process moving. If they can do it why shouldn’t I be able to? I began researching what meditative breathing involves and was surprised that it was so grossly simple. The basics are breathing and concentration. You merely concentrate on your breathing as you breathe.

Imagine your breath as it fills you lungs and as you exhale it. It sounds so simple, but in reality, is not so easy. My mind wanders often and must be brought back to the task at hand. After some practice I was able to keep my …

For over 50 years, the Buteyko breathing method has been used to control and treat serious health conditions such as asthma, allergy, eczema, bronchitis, bronchiectasis, high blood pressure, and circulation problems, to name just a few.

Developed in the 1950s by leading Russian physician Konstantin Buteyko, the technique is now practised in many countries, including the United States, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. A new university course has been introduced to the UK in order to train British nurses in its use to help asthma sufferers, while in Australia, Buteyko is covered by health insurance.

So is it possible that something as mundane as simply changing our breathing pattern can really combat many grave and life-threatening conditions that resist expensive medications? To answer this question, let’s look at how the Buteyko method works.

Buteyko Breathing Method: The Vital Importance of Carbon Dioxide

We all know, of course, that the whole idea of breathing is to deliver oxygen to our blood vessels and body cells. We inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, which many of us believe to be nothing more than a poisonous byproduct that can do nothing for our well-being.

Quite the opposite, Buteyko practitioners say. The …

Breath is automatic and mechanical. But like any machine, your breathing habits can go into disrepair. Take a moment to notice your breath. Does your stomach expand as you inhale or do you breathe into your chest? If you breathe mainly into your chest, you may sometimes feel out of breath even when you are not physically active. In addition, those who consistently breathe into their chest often feel more nervous than those who practice abdominal breathing (Bourne). Chest breathers also have the tendency to be shy and nervous compared to abdominal breathers who are more relaxed and outgoing.

There Are Many Benefits Associated with Abdominal Breathing:

• Efficient excretion of bodily toxins
• Improved circulation
• Increased state of calmness and serenity
• Improved concentration (Bourne)

Breathing Exercises

It is possible to retrain your body to breathe more deeply. Practice these simple exercises for about five minutes every day, and you will find that you will begin to breathe into your abdominals naturally.

Three-Part Breathing

1. Breathe slowly into your lower abdomen.
2. When your lower abdomen is full, move the breath into your rib cage.
3. When your rib cage is full, bring the breath into your chest. As you bring the breath into

A guide detailing the proper way to breathe for singing. Often described incorrectly; I hope this guide will help a new generation of young vocalists.

So if we are breathing into our lungs, why does our stomach push out? The reason for this is the diaphragm. The diaphragm is a muscle below the lungs. When we breathe air into our lungs, they expand. Ideally, they should be expanding downwards which will press down on your diaphragm and push out your stomach. Don’t worry, this won’t hurt. In fact, you’ve done it naturally all of your life.

A good way to notice this feeling occurring in your body is to lay flat on the floor and breathe in gently whilst resting a hand on your stomach. Do you notice it raise and lower? Another way to indirectly notice this is to observe a baby whilst they are asleep. Their stomachs move up and down with their breathing. N’awwww!

Expanding the chest

Or more accurately, the rib cage. To ensure the correct passage of air flow the ribs must be expanded at all times. This will also give you’re singing more resonance and power. How do we do this? Firstly, stand up …

Why does breathing make a difference in the way you sound when you sing?  First, you cannot produce sound without air.  It’s humanly impossible. When you speak, even one word or sound, it is because air strikes the vocal bands (folds) which causes them to vibrate. With vibration, sound is produced.

When we speak, we “let go” of the word quickly which doesn’t require a lot of air.  So, just by inhaling and exhaling, using the upper chest cavity, we can carry on a conversation. No big deal. And it is so easy, we seldom ever think about breath at all.

However, when we sing, the very act of singing requires the word to be held (sustained), which demands more air. As hard as we try, breathing for speech, will not supply us with enough air for singing.  As a result, we run out of air too soon, fail to project our singing, find that we can’t reach the high notes and even may strain our voice.

Our tone (singing sound) suffers the most when there is not enough air for the tone to “ride on”.  Air, is what supports the tone. It acts as a cushion …