...and breathe!

Music heals.

In mental health awareness week, it's a great time to talk about the power of joining in a group to share in music, how it helps foster a sense of belonging and community, and how singing can release stress and raise endorphins. Music can help us find solace in grief, loneliness, and heartbreak. Music can also uplift, energise, and relax.

Greek physicians used instruments such as lyres and zithers to help heal their patients, while Aristotle believed that flute music could arouse strong emotions and “purify the soul”. Rockstar castrato singer Farinelli (pictured below) was employed at the Spanish Court for 10 years, where he sang to King Philip V after his wife, Queen Elisabetta Farnese, suggested the musician’s voice might have the power to cure his depression. 

But in addition to listening or playing / singing music, which has been proven to in numerous studies to benefit mental health, inspired by singers I am sharing a practical breathing exercise that you can do anywhere, without making a sound. 

The Farinelli Manoeuvre is centuries-old breathing technique for singers to develop better control over the muscles and diaphragm can help to slow down the rate at which they use up their air. Here's how it goes:

Straighten your body, relax the throat, breathe to your diaphragm (upper belly area). Exhale the air out of your lungs. Breathe in for 4 counts, without closing the throat or having any tension, suspend the breath for 4 counts, then exhale stretching it out evenly over 4 counts. Repeat, adding in more counts as you feel comfortable (e.g., counting to 6, or 8, etc).

“BREATHE IN – 2 – 3 – 4, SUSPEND – 2 – 3 – 4, RELEASE – 2 – 3 – 4.”

Try to practice the breathing exercise – not just when you are stressed or nervous, practice even when you feel fine, whenever you have a chance (e.g., waiting in line, sitting in traffic, at your desk) – then it will become second nature and you will be more likely to remember the technique when you really need it.

The meditation app Headspace provides a great explanation of how this can help with your mental health: 

“Slowing down the breath allows CO2 to build up in the blood, which stimulates the response of the vagus nerve to produce feelings of calmness throughout the body. 

Long-term shallow breathing can actually keep the body in a cycle of stress, affecting everything from mental to physical health and even susceptibility to illness. 

While we shouldn’t stay in a prolonged state of controlled breath, starting the practice for a few moments per day can make you more conscious of your habits outside of the exercise.”

At Do Be Do Well we teach this exercise and more in our workshops which focus on wellbeing, stress and anxiety. Try this at home and let me know how you find it!