How do you breathe?
I had an interesting experience yesterday. I was sitting on my back patio enjoying the nice weather that has been rather scarce in the Northeast US this spring. I was watching what I thought was a hummingbird in a nearby small tree. I was captivated by this and watched for about five minutes before figuring out that it was a small sparrow. My fascination was due to the fact that these birds are relatively rare in my locale and especially rare this time of year when there are not a lot of flowers and it it relatively cold outside. Anyway, enough about birds.
I was sitting in a chair with my hands folded over my abdomen and I noticed I was breathing with my abdomen but not intending to do so. Most of us adults breathe through the chest. Contrast this with the way babies and animals breathe with their diaphragms. Why is that? Perhaps tension and stress contribute. Abdominal breathing exercises are actually taught as an exercise in relaxation. Breathing exercises are also taught to strengthen the mind-body connection. Additional benefits are a more favorable ventilation of the lungs. Failure to expand the lower lung segments can lead to collapse of these areas (atelectasis) and subsequent hypoxaemia (lower oxygen content in the blood). Chest breathing preferentially ventialtes upper lung zones, these do not get as much blood flow as the lower zones resulting in partial mismatch. So you can see there are multiple reasons to breathe correctly. A little more background can be found here:
http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/eisen5.html
Anyone who know me knows I have some Type A features. I am working on that. I was, to say the least, quite pleased to find myself slipping into some correct habits for a change, like complete relaxation for example! I first became interested in qigong as a recovery method after working with Steve Cotter. He is a martial artist as well as one of the best trainers out there for strength and conditioning with kettlebells www.fullkontact.com
I think incorporating breathing exercises into my training has helped me. Perhaps it might help you too.
Till next time... Train smart!
Scott
I was sitting in a chair with my hands folded over my abdomen and I noticed I was breathing with my abdomen but not intending to do so. Most of us adults breathe through the chest. Contrast this with the way babies and animals breathe with their diaphragms. Why is that? Perhaps tension and stress contribute. Abdominal breathing exercises are actually taught as an exercise in relaxation. Breathing exercises are also taught to strengthen the mind-body connection. Additional benefits are a more favorable ventilation of the lungs. Failure to expand the lower lung segments can lead to collapse of these areas (atelectasis) and subsequent hypoxaemia (lower oxygen content in the blood). Chest breathing preferentially ventialtes upper lung zones, these do not get as much blood flow as the lower zones resulting in partial mismatch. So you can see there are multiple reasons to breathe correctly. A little more background can be found here:
http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/eisen5.html
Anyone who know me knows I have some Type A features. I am working on that. I was, to say the least, quite pleased to find myself slipping into some correct habits for a change, like complete relaxation for example! I first became interested in qigong as a recovery method after working with Steve Cotter. He is a martial artist as well as one of the best trainers out there for strength and conditioning with kettlebells www.fullkontact.com
I think incorporating breathing exercises into my training has helped me. Perhaps it might help you too.
Till next time... Train smart!
Scott
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