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My Pug, Bogart McBags, has taught me many things in her 12 years on this planet (yes, "Bogart" is a girl). One of the most valuable lessons has been the value of true relaxation. Bogart sleeps or stares listlessly (like in this photo) about 20 hours a day. She has no worries. No fear of the future nor guilt from the past. She is a true Zen master.Sadly, I'll never be able to match her profound sloth or spiritual calm but I have learned a very effective breathing technique that I practice 3 or 4 times a day. It takes about 90 seconds and produces immediate results. Here it is:
The Relaxing Breath:
Inhale through your nose quietly and exhale through your mouth noisily, exhaling around your tongue (it helps if you purse your lips). The sound you make when you exhale is a kind of “whoosh”. Try that a few times so that you get comfortable with exhaling through your mouth and around your tongue.
Begin the relaxing breath by exhaling through your mouth completely. Then inhale quietly through your nose to a count of four: hold your breath for a count of seven; and exhale through your mouth for a count of eight. Repeat that for a total of four breath cycles. What is important here is the ratio of four, seven, and eight for inhalation, hold, and exhalation, respectively. The amount of time you spend doing the four breath cycles is not as important as that ratio.
Your exhalation must last for a count of eight, so resist the temptation to blow it all out in the first two seconds. Let out a slow, measured breath; then repeat the cycle again. At the end of the four breath cycles, just breath normally without trying to influence the breath, and notice how you feel.
To reap the long-term benefits of the relaxing breath, do a minimum of four breath cycles twice a day, after a month, you can increase the number of cycles to eight, at least twice a day- but never do more than eight breath cycles. This is a very powerful technique, and it has profound effects on physiology.
After you have worked with this exercise for some time, you can begin to use it in a variety of ways. If something upsets you, for example – somebody speaks to you harshly or cuts you off in traffic – before you react, do the Relaxing Breath. It is also the most effective anti-anxiety technique I know.
Inhale through your nose quietly and exhale through your mouth noisily, exhaling around your tongue (it helps if you purse your lips). The sound you make when you exhale is a kind of “whoosh”. Try that a few times so that you get comfortable with exhaling through your mouth and around your tongue.
Begin the relaxing breath by exhaling through your mouth completely. Then inhale quietly through your nose to a count of four: hold your breath for a count of seven; and exhale through your mouth for a count of eight. Repeat that for a total of four breath cycles. What is important here is the ratio of four, seven, and eight for inhalation, hold, and exhalation, respectively. The amount of time you spend doing the four breath cycles is not as important as that ratio.
Your exhalation must last for a count of eight, so resist the temptation to blow it all out in the first two seconds. Let out a slow, measured breath; then repeat the cycle again. At the end of the four breath cycles, just breath normally without trying to influence the breath, and notice how you feel.
To reap the long-term benefits of the relaxing breath, do a minimum of four breath cycles twice a day, after a month, you can increase the number of cycles to eight, at least twice a day- but never do more than eight breath cycles. This is a very powerful technique, and it has profound effects on physiology.
After you have worked with this exercise for some time, you can begin to use it in a variety of ways. If something upsets you, for example – somebody speaks to you harshly or cuts you off in traffic – before you react, do the Relaxing Breath. It is also the most effective anti-anxiety technique I know.
