Your Breath Is Key to Your Happiness. But are you breathing right?!

Have you ever noticed a child with his chest bulged out and stomach in? They move around with swollen bellies, totally oblivious and uncaring about what society or their neighbours consider ‘beautiful’ or ‘handsome’. Children, until they are schooled into worldly ways, are best known to be in their natural state.

They are closest to nature and so, to Life.

In Japanese medical traditions, the part of our abdomen right below the naval is considered a prominent energy centre and plays a vital role in the overall functioning of our body and mind – they call it Taanden or Hara. They use it as part of their extreme martial arts training regimes.

Similarly, in Yoga this energy centre is called Swadhistana. Through the practice of Pranayama, a yogi attempts to activate this centre with the aid of deep breathing techniques.

Ever noticed that when angry, our breath picks up tremendous speed? In fact, you cannot be angry without that erratic a breathing rate. If you pause and take just about 10 deep breaths right at the cusp of your angry moment, you are likely to contain your raging emotions. How so?

The answer lies in our physiology.

Here are three powerful tips/ practices which will help you manage your breath and so, help you claim to key to your happiness.

1. Breath from your naval and not your lungs: Our fast lifestyles and sedentary postures have invariably led to shallow breathing habits. However, there is a way we can gradually reverse this conditioning. After you are awake, just sit upright on your bed and place your awareness on your breath. This is the best time when you mind is receptive to habit changing frequencies and such an activity can leave deeper trails in our subconscious. Take 20 deep breaths, making sure they reach all the way to your naval and release them.

2. Be conscious of the exhaling: Focus your attention on the breath going out. Attempt to wholly empty your stomach of air so that there is nothing left. When taking in the next batch of air though, do not force it in. Let it come as if you are receiving a gift. In our daily lives, we run around grabbing and think a million times when giving. With this, our breathing also begins to experience a similar pattern – more of taking in and little of letting out. However, once you spend more time letting go and receiving just as much is needed, your mind also aligns to this design. The more you give, the more you receive. Like breath, you cannot accumulate all the CO2 within for long. Let it out entirely. That’s when you will be creating space for more life to be received in the form of O2.

3. Become one with your breath: When you breathe out, imagine that you are joining with the universe. When you breathe in, imagine you are coming back into the body. Let it become like a mantra. This is how we slowly disconnect with things material. We start becoming non dual.

In modern times, men and women are conditioned to swell up their chest, while they pull in the life out of those lean tummies. As s result, breath is circulated mostly until the mid lungs area. However, it works against our mental and physical needs. If you would like to change the way you breathe, start with the very awareness of it.

 The more you practice such conscious breathing, the more you become soft – like a child. The child is closest to life. And so can you be!