A quick, easy breathing exercise

meditative breathing 

In our world of stress and work we seldom take time to breathe. In his previous article, 4 new lessons from John Wayne movies, Darrell talked about how a connection with nature was a great way to feel more relaxed, less stressful, and more focused. “Meeting the sun is a perfect time to block off some time for meditation.” 

Here’s a quick breathing exercise I sometimes do to focus and calm down. It’s from a book, “Ki in Daily Life’ by Koichi Tohei and it never fails to do the trick. The great thing about the exercise is you can do it anywhere and it takes relatively no time whatsoever. It can be done standing or sitting, walking or in the car and one full cycle takes a minute and a half or less. 

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The exercise 

The exercise itself is simple: 

• Sit on the ground crosslegged or with your feet tucked under you. 

• Inhale slowly through your mouth until you are filled with breath. This, Tohei says, should last about 20-30 seconds. 20 seems to be about my limit (and it took me a while to get there - the first time I was closer to 10 or 15)

• Once you inhaled to your fullest, hold that breath for 10 seconds. 

• After 10 seconds, slowly and with control, let all the air out the same amount of time you inhaled for (i.e. if it took you 15 seconds to breath in, exhale for 15). 
  

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Some tips 

That’s the exercise. Some tips for improving are below.

It helps to think of your gut when you are breathing. You want a low, deep breath, not one that causes your shoulders to rise and tense. 

Holding the breath in should be relaxing. It helps to focus on where you’re sending the breath to. Imagine the breath is moving around in your body and focus on a spot of tension: your back, you shoulders, your stomach. If you have trouble holding the breath, focus on a point about 2 inches below your belly-button. Ki practitioners call this the ‘one point’ and use it in a variety of exercises. 

This exercise can be done in repetition and for as long as you need. 10 minutes is a great goal when you start and may be all you need to feel relaxed and focused. Be responsive to your body’s needs. Take some time out of a busy schedule and focus your thoughts. You’ll feel better if you do! 

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The best habit to make is about fifteen minutes of practice just before sleeping and fifteen minutes just after getting up in the morning. You will certainly find that your strength will increase and you will be healthier if you give up fifteen minutes of sleep time for the sake of breathing practice. Incidentally, if you have been studying or doing some work that has tired you, you will find that you will feel much better if, instead of taking a walk to rest, you practice breathing for fifteen to twenty minutes. 
- Koichi Tohei from Ki in Daily Life