Simple Exercises to Improve the Way You Breathe

As babies, we take long, deep breaths. As we grow up, however, our breaths become shorter and shallower. This means we don't use the full capacity of our lungs.

As well as allowing more oxygen into our bodies, better breathing techniques can allow you to relax, feel calm, and possibly even fall asleep.

Below are some simple breathing exercises to get you started on a road to better breath.

You could try these techniques before bed to help you relax, during study season to ease your tension, or any other time you’re feeling anxious.

Deep Breathing:

To begin, lie on your back and rest your hands on your stomach. The aim of this technique is to breathe all the way down into your stomach on an inhale, then breathe out fully on an exhale.

Start by breathing deeply, all the way into your stomach. You should feel your stomach push up and into your hands on your inhale. Then, fully exhale, feeling your stomach fall away from your hands.

Do this breath at your own pace. You may find you need to slow as well as deepen your regular breath to allow it to reach your stomach.

To begin with, practice this exercise for around five minutes at time. Increase your practice time as you feel more confident and comfortable.

Breath Lengthening:

The next technique is breath lengthening. As you might imagine, the aim of this is to lengthen the time you take to inhale and exhale. This is particularly good if you are someone who struggles to relax, as the concentrating on counting in this breath gives the mind focus.

To begin, find a comfortable position; seated, lying, whatever you prefer.

Take a minute or so to breathe naturally and roughly time your inhale and exhale. Once you have worked out the length of your usual inhale and exhale, you can begin to try and lengthen it. Try increasing it by two.

For example, if you normally inhale and exhale for the count of two, try to increase the time to four, etc.

Once you have managed to lengthen your breath, practice it at this length for a few sessions before moving on. Once you are comfortable at the next breath length, try and move up by two again.

Practice this breathing technique for around five minutes to begin with. As you get more comfortable, increase your practice length as desired.

Longer Exhale Than Inhale:

This technique follows on from the technique above. The difference, however, is that instead of trying to lengthen both your inhale and exhale, the aim is to exhale for longer than you inhale.

Having a longer exhale than inhale is said to make you feel calm and relaxed. And, as with the technique above, the counting and concentrating gives your mind something to focus on if you have trouble switching off.

To begin, find a comfortable position. Take a few moments to time your normal inhale and exhale. Once you have established these, breathe in as normal, then lengthen your exhale.

The eventual aim is to breathe for a 1:2 ratio, i.e your exhale is double the length of your inhale. Start by trying to lengthen your exhale by one or two counts and then go from there. When practising, start with a five minute practice and gradually increase the time spent practising.

To Conclude:

These are some great, simple breathing exercises that can allow you to start improving your breathing technique. Keep a lookout for some other articles by me that will cover more complex techniques you can try once you’ve mastered these.