One of the first things I teach to a student new to yoga is how to breathe.
It may seem funny to teach something that is so natural and basic to us, like walking and eating but many of us may have unknowingly acquired unhelpful habits along the path of life and such is the case with breathing.
Like many others, when I first encountered the yogic breathing, I found it strange that I 'sucked in' my abdomen while inhaling and relaxed my abdomen while exhaling - the complete opposite of what the yoga teacher was instructing. It was unnatural as I have only focused on lung breathing so far and have never heard of 'abdomen breathing'.
Now, this way of breathing has become totally unconscious and I can't imagine going back to the way I breathed before.
The "abdomen breathing" is scientifically known as diaphragmmatic breathing, and in the yoga practice, we breathe in and out through the nostrils, the mouth is not used (unless in specific practices). It is known as "belly breathing" because as we increase our lung's capacity for breath intake, our diaphragm. - a dome shaped muscle under our ribcage - is pushed down and causes our abdomen to inflate, and as we exhale the diaphragm raises up again and the abdomen is 'deflated' comes back down.
Why is it important that we pay attention to our breath? We can go a few days without food but we cannot last a few minutes without a breath. The breath is the fuel that keeps us alive, and it is fundamental to our existence, above water and food. In the yogic tradition, the quality and lengths of our breath are a measure of the quality of our lives. It is a basic rhythm of our body that we can voluntarily regulate, unlike the rhythm of our heartbeat which we cannot. Since our body is a sophisticated web of highly connected systems, the change in our breathing pattern over time can have an impact on our physical, emotional and cognitive patterns.
If you have not tried yogic or diaphragmmatic breathing before, I encourage you to give it a try today.
The best way to try it is in a lying down position, with both hands gently placed on your abdomen. Your abdomen should rise with the inhalation, and relax into the spine with the exhalation. Face should be relaxed and free of tension. If it helps, count your inhalation and exhalation, in equal ratio, i.e. 2 seconds inhale and 2 seconds exhale, and if you're comfortable you can slowly increase the length and keep to the same ratio. After you are comfortable with the breathing, you can practise it in any position - sitting or standing.
Start with a 1-minute duration and make it a daily habit to gradually increase to 15 minutes.
Investigate like a scientist and see how your body and mind feels like after this practice.