Translator: Tijana MihajlovićReviewer: Peter van de Ven Take a deep breath.
Yes, right now.
Come up from the back of your seat.
Sit up straight and takea big inhale, fill all the way up, and then exhale.
Deep breath in and exhale all the way out.
Now, do you feel like you geta little bit taller on the inhale? Yeah? How you get taller and stretch upwards and on the exhale sort of settle down? Because I'm seeing it.
Well, if you do, you're what I call”a vertical breather.
” And unfortunately, it's an anatomicallyincongruous way to breathe, meaning that you're breathingout of sync with your body.
However, nine out of ten peoplebreathe this way.
So, here's what happenswhen you breathe vertically.
First thing that happens is that youoveruse your neck and shoulder muscles.
You see, your neck and shoulder muscleswere never meant to be breathing muscles.
So, even though it's a small movement, you're doing it thousands of times a day, millions of times a year, year after year.
So, if you have neck and shoulder pain – just a little, right – you can blame the car, you can blame the computer, but first and foremostblame your breathing.
Second thing is that you're only usingthe top part of your lungs.
Where's the biggest, most oxygen-rich part of your lungs? Right down here.
Take your hands.
Put them there.
There we go.
Right down here.
The biggest, densest part of your lungs.
Do you use thesewhen you breathe vertically? No.
So, you actually have to takeseveral smaller breaths, that is breathe fasterto get the air that you need.
Now, here's what's most fascinatingfor me as a psychologist: the vagus nerve is a nervethat goes to the back of your head and goes throughout your whole body.
“Vagus” means “wanderer” in Latin.
And it does; it wandersthroughout your whole body, picking up signalsto tell your brain how to feel.
Now, when you're breathing vertically, the vagus nerve automatically puts you into a stressed outfight-or-flight mode.
And it doesn't matter what's going onin your surroundings – they could be perfectly mundane routine – you're going to be in a fight-or-flight.
So, this connection to stressis what got me interested in the breath.
I woke up one fall several years agowith a dull, throbbing pain in my jaw.
And I found myselfat the dentist's office, hearing those five wordsyou never want to hear, “Do you have dental insurance?” (Laughter) I didn't.
And being a compulsive type A, I wasn't just grinding my teeth; I was pulverizing them.
So, thousands of dollars later, I came to the conclusionthat I was not controlling my stress; it was controlling me.
It was time for a change.
I started by signing up for a yoga class, where we would do breathing exercisesat the beginning of class.
I heard words like kapalabhati, ujjayi.
We would breathethrough one nostril, then the other; we would do breath holds.
I was intrigued.
I dove in headfirst.
I took every class I could find, read every book, studied every academic article.
I found myself in classeswith gong baths and chakra balancing.
I read articles about cellular respirationand rates of oxygen exchange.
I studied breathing in birthing, freediving, singing, and martial arts.
What was most alarming to mewas when I looked around, almost everyone I knewwasn't breathing correctly.
And I knew – the medical research said – that breath affects your sleep, your back, your digestion, your memory, anxiety; all these different things.
It affects parts of our bodythat you'd never even consider, like esophagus and your pelvic floor.
It wreaks havocthroughout your whole body.
It affects your immune system, your adrenal glands, acidity.
So, I formalized what I was learninginto a method and started teaching.
Now, who do you thinkwere the first people that called me? Was it members of the wellness community? Was it New-Age folks? Uh-uh.
SWAT, Homeland Security, DEA, Border Patrol, Military and Law Enforcement.
We know the importance of the breath.
Ancient yogis say we come into this worldwith a certain number of breaths, and we can take them quicklyand live a short lifespan, or we can take them deeply and slowlyand live a long lifespan.
4, 000 years later, fast forward, the Framingham study found that breathing is predictive of longevityin a quantitative way, longevity and health.
So, I know what you're thinking.
“I'm breathing wrong? How could this be?” Well, relax, it's not all your fault.
Sometime between the ages of five and ten, your breathing changes from a lower-body breathto an upper-body breath.
And it happens because of several things.
Number one is that you go to schooland you start sitting a lot.
And sitting affects your posture, which affects your breath.
You go to the doctor;the stethoscope goes here.
They say, “Take a deep breath, ” and you think, “Hm, my lungsmust be up here.
” Someone pokes you in the bellyand calls you fatty, and hence starts years, even decades of gut sucking.
So even now, as an adult, you're sucking it in because you're thinkingit makes you look thinner, because it's an emotionalresponse to fear, because it's a bracing stance that helps you feel preparedto run or to strike.
Because you believe the myth that tensing your absmakes your core stronger.
But the breath has no choicebut to rise to the top of your body, become vertical, and stay there.
So, what should you do? Look no further than your toddler, your dog, your cat, even your fish.
They breathe expanding and contractingin the middle, using the diaphragm.
Now, much of the confusionaround breathing occurs because we don't reallyunderstand the diaphragm.
It's a muscle deep inside; it's depicted as this little red linethat crosses the body, when actually it's much morelike the Starship Enterprise, this enormous musclein the very middle of your body, separating your thoracic cavityfrom your digestive organs.
And the only reason it was put therewas to help you breathe, if you let it.
So, let's get intimate with the diaphragm.
Right now, really.
Take your fingers.
Put them right here, at your sternum.
Okay? Walk them around the bottom of your ribs.
Go! Keep walking.
There we go.
Now, your ribs are attachedto your sternum like handles on a pail.
On the inhale, they're meantto move out horizontally, and on the exhale, they narrow with your body.
What a beautiful machine the body is.
But maybe it's time that we revisitthis cornerstone of our health, especially now when the narrow screensof the computer or handhelds result in us sipping intiny amounts of air; little inhales and little exhalesor sometimes none at all.
Alright, let's fix this.
Come up from the back of your seat.
Come on up.
Scooch up to the frontof your chair.
Alright.
We're going to do a breathing exercise.
This is called Rock and Roll.
You're going to putyour hands on your belly.
We're going to do the exaggerated version until your diaphragm starts to kick in, starts to get engaged.
So, you might geta little bit lightheaded.
Enjoy it.
Alright? (Laughter) So, I want you to tip forward, inhale, let your belly go.
Ready? Tip forward, inhale, let it go, expand, exhale, squeeze, round your back.
Belly button gets closer to your spine.
Use your abs.
Inhale, tip forward, let your belly go.
Expand it.
Exhale, squeeze; get all that air out.
Round your shoulders;they have nothing to do with this.
Big inhale, expand.
Exhale, squeeze.
Forwards and back.
You're now breathing horizontally.
We're going to do a breathing exercise.
It's a Counting Breath.
It comes from the military.
It's my favorite one.
It's called Tactical Breath.
So, you're goingto inhale for four, hold for four, exhale for six, hold for two.
We're going to do it together.
Ready? Okay.
Inhale – two, three, four – hold – two, three, four – exhale – two, three, four, five, six – hold – two.
Inhale – two, three, four – hold – two, three, four – exhale – two, three, four, five, six – hold – two.
Inhale – two, three, four – hold – two, three, four – exhale – two, three, four, five, six – hold – two.
Close your eyes – two, three, four – hold – two, three, four – exhale – two, three, four, five, six – hold – two.
Tip forward.
Inhale and continue on your own with a beautiful, anatomically congruouslower-body horizontal breath.
Thank you.
(Applause).
