Enchanter wrote:
Hey, do you have any suggestions regarding breathing? You did mention a type of yoga.. now yoga can be very expensive.
Yoga can be expensive. Or very cheap.
For breathing? I'd start out with the following relatively cheap thing: 10 minutes of yoga relaxation. I'd suggest that you get yourself a yoga
relaxation CD. Not a meditation CD, a
relaxation CD. One that I've used in the past that I really like is
Guided Yoga Relaxations (CD) by Rolf Sovik available from the link for about $15 + shipping. Having a CD will help you understand what you're trying to do in a yoga relaxation, but it's not strictly necessary.
In a yoga
relaxation you spend about 10 minutes in your choice of one of two basic poses: Savasana or corpse pose or Crocodile pose.
Here's a description of how a basic 10 minute yoga relaxation "works" if you don't have a CD to guide you:
In savasana (corpse) pose, you lie down on the floor on your back with a small pillow under your neck if you need it to be more comfortable. It's also ok to put a pillow or bolster under your knees if lying flat on your back with no support under your knees is uncomfortable. You want to be very, very comfortable. You want your feet spread out just a bit---about hip width apart or a bit further. You want your arms down by your sides, but about 6-12 inches away from your body. It's also ok to use a lightweight small blanket on top of you to help keep you warm.
In crocodile pose, you lie down on the floor on your stomach with your arms crossed and your forehead resting comfortably on top of the two crossed arms. Your legs should be straight out and a bit separated from each other---the feet should be about hip width apart (or a bit wider than hip width if that's more comfortable). It doesn't matter if the feet turn in or out. Or if one turns in and the other turns out. You want to be comfortable. You might want a very small, thin cushion between your arms and your forehead if you have very bony arms like I do. It's also ok to put a lightweight blanket on top of your back if you're cold.
And once you're in a comfortable position, you just allow yourself to breathe without forcing the breathing. If you are using a tape,
allow your mind follow the instructions on the guided relaxation. Most of the time with a guided relaxation CD you start with focusing on how the breathing feels without trying to control it. And then the CD will tell you to focus your attention for a few breaths on individual parts of the body as you consciously relax them.
If you don't have a tape or don't want to use a tape, you start by simply allowing your mind to focus on your breathing without trying to control your breathing. It's critical to understand that you don't force anything. Rather you
notice what's going on. So you
notice how your breathing is
without judging it and without trying to change it: Is it regular? Is it labored? Is it from the belly or is it from the chest? Are you breathing through your nose or through your mouth? Is your breathing even? Is it ragged? Is it slow and regular? Is it slow and irregular? Is it fast and regular? Is it fast and irregular? Is it deep or shallow? Are the exhalations and inhalations about the same length? Or are the inhalations longer than the exhalations? Or are the exhalations longer than the inhalations? Can you feel how the air feels
cool when you inhale and
warm when you exhale? Can you feel how the cool air flows through your nose and down your throat when you inhale? Can you feel how the warm air flows from your throat and through your nose when you exhale? You don't try to control any aspect of your breathing and you don't try to force the breathing to be something it is not. You simply notice what the breathing is doing. You try to focus your whole mind on
what your breathing feels like without trying to control the breathing and
without judging the breathing. And as you are focusing on how your breathing feels, you allow your whole body to relax into the floor.
At some point allow your mind's focus to change from
how does the breathing feel? to
how does the floor feels against your body? Again, do this without trying to force anything. Work on
noticing what parts of your body are supported firmly by the floor. Notice what parts are not resting on the floor. And you allow yourself to
feel your muscles relaxing. If your mind tends to wander, you don't worry about that. Just bring your mind's focus back to paying attention to what the breath is doing without forcing anything after you notice that your mind is wandering off to something else. And then return to noticing how your body and the floor are interacting with each other.
If/when the time feels right, focus your whole attention on one part of your body at a time and focus on getting the muscles in that particular part to really relax fully. Start with your head. Spend a few breaths focusing all your attention on relaxing the muscles in the top of your head. And then relax the back of your neck. And then relax your forehead. And then relax your jaws. Continue all the way down your body: Consciously relax your shoulders, your arms, your hands, your torso, your hips, your legs, your feet. When you are consciously relaxing a given body part, focus your attention on the body part and just let the breathing "be". In other words, let the breathing take care of itself and don't worry about whether it's "good" breathing or not ...
Ideally after several minutes your whole body should be very relaxed. Your muscles should be relaxed. Your breathing should be your natural relaxed, resting, but awake breathing. Once you've relaxed, your breathing will probably be more regular that it was when you first started the yoga relaxation. And it may be a bit deeper than it was when you first started the relaxation. If ten minutes is not yet up, then allow yourself the
pleasure of feeling how relaxed your body is and how the breathing feels without
judging how the breathing feels.
It's easier to do this with a guided relaxation tape since you've got the external voice telling you what to focus your mind on. But if you want to try it without a guided tape, it can help to put some very soothing, very quiet music on. The music should NOT have words that you understand because then you'll start focusing on the words in the music instead of focusing on how your body feels physically and how your breath feels.
As for the choice between savasana or crocodile pose: It really doesn't matter which pose you use. When you are first learning how to do this yoga relaxation, you should stick with the pose that is most natural feeling and most comfortable for you. For most people, that's savasana, but some people have a strong preference for crocodile. It is easier to feel where the breath is coming from in crocodile since your stomach is against the floor and if you're doing diaphragmatic breathing, the diaphragm has to push against the floor in a noticeable (but NOT uncomfortable) way. If you're trying to train yourself to do more diaphragmatic breathing, crocodile pose helps you learn what it feels like more easily than savasana does. But if you find that you are having to
force the breath in crocodile, then it's far better to stick with savasana.
Enchanted wrote:Keep in mind that when I try mindfulness mediation I get very frustrated because I can't really breathe without forcing it, especially when I focus on it. I even start sweating and feel dizzy when i try to breathe through my nose. There may be times when I'm breathing easier, but it's not consistent. I understand you're supposed to breathe though your belly and I know exercises such as placing pressure on your belly. However it's easier SAID than done. Even when I am breathing through my belly, I'm breathing through both my chest and abdomen. Hard to NOT breathe through chest.
You are working too hard to
force your breathing to be something that it's not.
The point of focusing on the breathing is to help
relax yourself. And you can't relax if you are fighting your own breathing.
You have to learn to
relax and simply breathe without judging whether your breathing measures up to some arbitrary standard you've read or heard about in a meditation or yoga book/website/class.
In order to be comfortable doing any kind of yoga or meditation, you need to get to know how your own body feels and functions
at rest. The breathing we do when we are quietly relaxed, but not asleep, is not the same as the kind of breathing we need to do when we're doing strenuous exercise. Your body has its own natural, relaxed breathing rhythm and style. And you need to learn what that rhythm and style is. As you learn what your own natural relaxed breathing rhythm and style feels like, you will begin to understand how to work
with that style rather than fight it. And, eventually, you will learn how to deepen your relaxed breathing and slow it down and make it very regular. But that comes more from experience with relaxation rather than a conscious effort to change your breathing style.
Enchanted wrote:I even start sweating and feel dizzy when i try to breathe through my nose. There may be times when I'm breathing easier, but it's not consistent. I understand you're supposed to breathe though your belly and I know exercises such as placing pressure on your belly. However it's easier SAID than done. Even when I am breathing through my belly, I'm breathing through both my chest and abdomen. Hard to NOT breathe through chest.
As I said before, you need to learn to
relax and simply breathe without judging whether your breathing measures up to some arbitrary standard you've read or heard about in a meditation or yoga book/website/class. But right now it seems as though you are caught up in a frantic effort to compare your breathing to an external standard: It should be nasal breathing. It should be from the belly. But since yours is not either of those things right now, you wind up fighting your own breathing rather than working with your breath.
Since you can't breath through your nose comfortably, then breath through your mouth. Yes, nose breathing is supposed to be better, but if you have to fight your own body to breath through your nose, then you are better off breathing comfortably through your mouth. Or breath through your nose part of the time and breath through your mouth part of the time if that's what works best.
Likewise, diaphragmatic (belly) breathing is deeper and more regular than chest breathing. But we live in a culture where chest breathing is common place and a lot of people have real trouble learning how to breathe from the belly. So since diaphragmatic breathing doesn't come natural to you, don't get hung up on it. It's more important to learn how to relax your breathing as best you can. Because you can't relax your body if you can't relax your breathing.
As you learn how to really relax your body, you may find that your relaxed wake breathing starts to naturally engage the diaphragm more easily. But there's no need to force yourself to breath diaphragmatically if it feels totally unnatural to you.
In other words, the best thing you can do as far as breathing goes is to spend some time
relaxing with your body and learning to
enjoy how your body feels and breathes when it is totally relaxed. Once you learn how to use your existing breathing style to help relax your body and mind, you'll be able to use breathing techniques to help deal with things like anxiety.
So there is a small chance, that this has something to do with my energy levels and maybe just maybe it affects my sleeping. If you know anything about this, let me know. I am open, but at the same time there are certain things that I know I don't have.
Everyone breathes or they die.
And everyone who doesn't have a serious lung condition that affects their daytime breathing has a breathing style that comes "natural" to them. People with healthy lungs don't have to fight for each and every breath. If a person with healthy lungs is actively doing something that requires a lot of thought but does not require a specific breathing pattern, the breathing takes care of itself: If you're cooking a meal, you're not spending every breath thinking about your breathing. If you are doing your laundry, you're not spending every breath thinking about your breathing. The point is: For a person with healthy lungs, breathing is a natural thing.
Relaxation, however, is NOT a natural thing for many of us. Relaxation, as my hubby teases me, requires a lot of hard work for some of us. And relaxation is NOT the same as doing something that is "fun" but physically exhausting. But relaxation is as important for recharging the batteries as a good diet. Or proper exercise. Or good sleep.
You have thrown yourself into a host of daytime activities that you see as improving your physical fitness: You lift weights. You mountain bike. You eat a healthy diet. But you seem to have a hard time just plain chilling out and not worrying about things. Conscious relaxation helps control run-of=the-mill daily stress and anxiety---the kind of stress and anxiety everybody has to deal with.
Conscious relaxation and learning how to use your breathing to help settle your body is not a magic bullet: It's not going to drastically increase your energy levels since you are not sleeping very well. Conscious relaxation and learning how to breath more naturally (for you) is not going to fix your sleep problems. But conscious relaxation is likely to help you feel less stressed out during the daytime. And understanding how your breathing naturally feels when your body is at rest and deeply relaxed may help you gain more control of your breathing when you are doing your heavy exercise. You may learn to read your body better, and you may then understand that some of what you are experiencing when you exercise is just your body saying, "Enough heavy physical activity for now; the muscles and body are ready to do some well earned whole body relaxation."
