Abdominal Breathing Technique
Breathing exercises such as this one should be done daily or whenever you find yourself under stress, your mind dwelling on upsetting thoughts, or when you are experiencing pain. Abdominal breathing is just one of the many breathing exercises, but it is the most important one to learn before exploring other techniques. The more it is practiced, the more natural it will become, improving your mind and body’s internal balanced rhythm.
- Place one hand on your chest and the other hand on your abdomen. When you take a deep breath in, the hand on the abdomen should rise higher than the one on the chest. This ensures that the diaphragm is pulling air into the bases of the lungs.
- After exhaling through your mouth, take a slow deep breath in through your nose, allowing your mind to focus on the undersurface of the nose where the air enters the body. Inhale for a count of 4.
- Slowly exhale for a count of 6-8. As all the air is released with exhalation, gently contract your abdominal muscles to completely evacuate the remaining air in your lungs. It is important to remember that we deepen respirations by completely exhaling air, rather than inhaling more of it.
- Repeat the cycle 19 more times for a total of twenty deep breaths.
