From a yogic perspective, limiting the breath is pretty much suicidal. Breath is the vehicle for inviting prana, or life force, into our being and it is faithfully studied and practiced. The yogis believe that each of us is assigned at birth a certain number of breaths for this lifetime. Therefore, elongating the breath can lengthen your life.
In class you have heard me say about a million times, "Inhale through the nose and let the belly fill with air like a balloon. On the exhale, let the belly deflate as the navel draws back toward the spine." Before you think I'm a total quack, I want you to know that when I give this instruction I am aware you are not really breathing into your belly on an inhale. Your lungs do not reside in your intestines and there is no actual air entering your abdomen. So why suggest this imagery?  A proper breath fills the lungs deeply -- all the way down to the lower third which is rarely used during typical respiration (more on this in a moment). As the lungs fill, they gain volume and the ribs widen. The lungs are situated just above the diaphragm, part of which is attached to the lower ribs. When they spread apart and the lungs enlarge, the dome-shaped diaphragm flattens.
In the illustration at right, you can see the difference in the size of the lungs on the top (which are filled with breath) and the lungs on the bottom (which have exhaled). You may have also noticed that the word "inspiration" refers to the the action of the lungs filling with breath. Coincidence? I think not. Anyway, when the filled lungs flatten the diaphragm, that pushes down on the organs underneath. When your guts have nowhere else to go, they swell out in front of you in the form of a protruding belly. (Thank you, o wise anatomical structure, since I would hate to think what would happen if not for this accommodation.) But, you know, really, if I said all that stuff about the ribs and the organs and the dome and blah blah blah, would it be helpful while on your mat? I doubt it. Instead, when you visualize your belly blowing up like a balloon, it draws the focus down from the upper chest and invites the body to move the way it would for a deep breath. (Side note: if you are a singer or have formal breath training that works for you, then groovy. Usually it's the same idea.) That deep breath takes advantage of the lower third of the lungs and that matters a great, great deal to our overall health. For one thing, working out the lower third gives the lungs a chance to empty completely and clean themselves out. If we're not breathing deeply, gunk can sort of settle there. That doesn't sound too appealing, does it? Another critical effect of deep breath is the stimulation to the parasympathetic nervous system (aka, relaxation response). A whole bunch of the receptors for the parasympathetic system are located in the bottom portion of the lungs. If those receptors never get any attention, they don't really activate and then, boom, chronic stress and/or panic attacks. So the next time you are tempted to "suck it in," meaning your gut, flip the script and let that belly puff out while you inhale all the delicious prana to which you are entitled. If you practice deepening the breath frequently, you may even live long enough to learn self-acceptance of your liberated physical form. Just don't hold your breath. |
