"Breathing is life.  Without breath, there is no life."  That's pretty deep, isn't it?  But yet, it's true on several levels. Obviously, without proper breath, there is no physical life.  Your body dies from lack of oxygen.  However, that's not the only story.  Improper breathing can trigger or directly cause many physical symptoms such as heart palpitations, dizziness, fainting or blackouts, confusion and disorientation, muscle spasms, and sleep apnea, to name a few.

Without proper breath, there is no stable emotional life either.  Improper breathing has been linked to anxiety, worry, hypertension, panic attacks, and depression.  Breathing properly has a huge impact on how you feel emotionally.

Proper breathing can also affect your spiritual life.  Many eastern religions use the breath as a spiritual focus during meditation.  Concentrating on the breath as it comes into and goes out of the body tends to still the constant chatter of the mind and opens your consciousness to the presence of the divine.

It's important to understand the different ways that we breathe so you can tell when you are doing one or the other.

Chest Breathing.  This is the way most adults breathe and is characterized by the breath being concentrated primarily at the top of the chest.  Modern society tends to value a big chest and a flat stomach so as kids, we're all taught to stand up straight, "chest out, stomach in."  Unfortunately, this type of breathing uses only a small percentage of your lung capacity and is not very efficient at getting oxygen into your blood stream.  We all tend to breathe this way when we're anxious, nervous, or scared resulting in constricted blood vessels, a faster heart beat, and a higher pitched voice.

Abdominal Breathing.  This is the "belly breathing" that babies and small children do automatically.  As you inhale, your abdominal muscles expand down and outward allowing the diaphragm to pull air deep into the lungs.  When you exhale, they contact helping the diaphragm to empty the lungs.  You can easily see this by placing one hand on your stomach just below the bottom of your rib cage and placing your other hand at the center of your chest near the sternum.  Now slowly take a deep breath and concentrate on using your abdomen to make the hand on your stomach move farther out than the hand on your chest. This type of breathing tends to use the highest percentage of your lung capacity and is the type you should work on using most of the time since it keeps you physically and emotionally calm and balanced.

There is all kinds of scientific data that shows how your physical and mental state effects your breathing.  If you are fearful or anxious about something, for example, your breathing tends to become quick and shallow.  However, this action/reaction works in reverse as well.  In other words, if you force your breathing to become quick and shallow, you'll start to feel fearful and anxious.  This is part of the "fight or flight" syndrome that's part of our genetic code.

So how does this information help during exercise?  Well, in two ways.

• First, as part of your warm-up, taking several slow deep breaths will cause your blood vessels to slightly expand helping to fully oxygenate and fuel your muscles and get them prepared for peak performance during your workout.  Mentally, this also helps focus your concentration so you can maximize your efforts on your next exercise.

• Second, taking several slow deep breaths as part of your cool down helps to slow your heart rate, calm the mind, and flush the body of the waste products that are created during heavy exercise.

Since most of us have forgotten how to breathe properly, you should include the following breathing exercise as part of your fitness routine.  Be careful to start out slow and note how you feel because if you routinely breathe with your chest, performing this exercise may create an "oxygen rush" leaving you feeling dizzy or lightheaded.  If this happens, simply sit for a few minutes until your body adjusts.

• Stand in a relaxed manner with the back straight, your hands slack by your side, your weight evenly distributed on both feet, and your knees slightly bent. This assures that your lungs and diaphragm are in alignment.

• Take a deep abdominal breath inhaling slowly through the nose, pause, and then exhaling slowly through the mouth. Repeat this 3 times. Some people recommend inhaling for a 4 count, holding for a 4 count, and then exhaling for an 8 count.  If this helps, use it.  If not, use a rhythm that's comfortable for you.  What's important is the sequence of inhale, pause for about the same amount of time that it took you to inhale, and then exhale slowly taking about twice as long as it took you to inhale.

NOTE: doing this exercise more than 3 times may make you feel dizzy or lightheaded if you're not used to breathing in this way.  If this happens, wait a couple of minutes before you begin your workout.

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