Thirty Conscious Breaths

One of the exercises that I love to do every day is to take thirty conscious breaths. We can go for months without food, even days without water, but we really can't survive very long at all without our primary nutrient, oxygen.  There are some really interesting aspects to the process of inhalation and exhalation. One is a reflection of the other, as is the case with our right and left lungs. 

When we inhale we can notice if our lungs are filling evenly and simultaneously.  We can also notice if we are filling the bottom of our lungs, the middle, and the top. Often it's surprising how we may miss either of these details while breathing.  Injuries and old habits can result in imbalances in the way we take the air into our bodies.  Once after a hard fall, I developed the habit of beginning to fill my right lung first and then only filling my left lung part way and emptying it before the right.  This made for a very lopsided breath pattern, but I barely noticed it.  In fact I didn't notice it all for sometime after the fall.  

Other uneven uses of the lungs that can be habitually formed are: breathing low, in the bottom of our lungs; or only filling the middle; or rarely, but sometimes, only filling the top.  This can be the result of muscular tension or emotional trauma, but it is interesting to note that this uneven filling of the lungs is far more common that we realize.  So perhaps this week you would like to consider taking some time, almost like in meditation, to observe the quality of your inhalation and exhalation. Thirty breaths should do it.  You can notice how you fill your lungs. Do they fill evenly and all at once, all the way, like an infant's, expanding like a big balloon? Or are there variations from left to right, or top to bottom? 

For the advanced course, should you wish to play around a little, try filling only the bottom or only the top of your lungs.  Let your upper body lean far over to the right and fill only the left lung.  Or change positions and fill only the right.  Bend over way forward at the hip and fill the back middle portion of your lungs. Or lean back over the back portion of a chair and try to fill the middle front of your lungs.  It can be kind of a fun thing to show a friend, "Watch this! See what I can do!" And of course, versatility in this aspect of our being allows for greater conscious control.  Have fun with this little experiment, I always do.  Take some life into your lungs and enjoy breathing deeply. 

© Josephine Laing, 2015