Breathing Correctly!

Before every hypnotic induction I do with clients at Skipnotherapy in Salem, Oregon, I invoke the client to begin the process of relaxation by taking some nice, deep diaphragmatic breaths.  When it is the first session a client has ever done with me, I almost always have to give some instruction as to what that really means.  Most people, when told to take a deep breath, raise their entire chest frame, imitating what they had seen others do when taking a deep breath.  Incorrect!

Did you know that breathing diaphragmatically not only helps a person to relax, but also reduces stress and anxiety, improves overall health, increases stamina, and improves physical, lowers blood-pressure and athletic performance, to name a few of the benefits.  Yet, most of us continue to breathe incorrectly and shallowly.

In an article entitled “Are You Breathing Right?” on details.com, author K. Aleisha Fetters points out some of the benefits and techniques for breathing right.  In the article, she discusses how high-powered professionals from CEOs and DEA officers to Carnegie Hall musicians are retraining their lungs to help them keep cool under pressure.  You can read the entire article here.

People can teach themselves how to do this deep-breathing so that it becomes an automatic part of their body’s functioning, and it can be used as a ‘on-the-spot tool’ to help them get calm in stress-producing situations.  Fetters retells how FBI Defense Tactics Instructor Steve Kardian used the technique to improve his marksmanship.  She says “lying prostrate on the ground with the rifle in his hands, eyes narrowed on his mark, Kardian concentrated on not moving a muscle. “I need complete control for long-range shots; even one micro flinch can send the bullet flying feet from your target,” he says.  He had been called upon by a top military agency to take on a classified secret service–like assignment—if he failed these qualifying tests the job was gone. Just before stepping up to the line, Kardian performed a deep diaphragmatic breathing exercise taught to him by his respiratory guru of two years, Belisa Vranich. “It brought a calm over me. I was able to maintain my positions and hit all my targets.”

If you have ever taken a yoga class, you will likely find the instructor teaching you diaphragmatic breathing early-on simply for the relaxing results it produces, allowing you to better perform yoga poses and get more fully into the physical and mental calm to which it can lead.  Hypnotherapists know that in order to lead a client into the state of relaxation where fundamental change can be effected, there is no better start than diaphragmatic breathing.

Respiratory guru Dr. Belisa Vranich, PsyD, teaches others how to correctly perform diaphragmatic breathing.  Here are some of her tips:

 What Not To Do
Take a deep breath. Chances are your traps tightened, your shoulders shrugged, and your chest puffed out. That’s all wrong, says Vranich. “Oxygen is cell fuel. If you breathe in a shallow, erratic, unbalanced way, your cells aren’t getting the single most important thing they need,” she says. Problem is that stress, too much time spent sitting, and ill-fitting pants compress stomachs and get men in the habit of respirating through their chests. The result: an out-of-whack oxygen-to-carbon dioxide ratio, which can slow down your nervous system, bring on anxiety and brain fog, and contribute to chronic fatigue, insomnia, even cancer. Plus, lifting your chest every time you inhale spurs muscle imbalances and poor posture.

What To Do
Lower your diaphragm and engage your intercostals (the muscles between your ribs that help the ribcage expand). Humans are designed to breathe through their entire lungs—which reach into the abdomen—not just the top 20 percent situated in the chest, as most people do. This enables more oxygen to reach cells and more carbon dioxide to leave them. Breathing this way also helps maintain a steady heart rate and prevents it from rising too rapidly in an overwhelming situation.

If you or someone you love has questions about hypnotherapy or its many benefits, contact me at www.skipnotherapy.com