Breathing Exercises For Birth |

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If you're opting for a natural childbirth, or simply want better control over your breathing while giving birth, breathing techniques can allow you simultaneously to relax and focus on the task at hand. Through breathing, you can focus your attention on something other than the pain of childbirth. You should practice breathing exercises for birth ahead of time, so when you're in labor, you know what to expect and can easily recall the proper breathing exercises.

Step 1

Prepare yourself for the pain of childbirth, the KidsHealth website counsels. While some mothers will speak of a "painless" birth, this is highly unusual. Instead of planning for a painless birth, plan on the pain by going to birthing classes and remembering that the pain of childbirth means your baby is that much closer to entering the world. If you plan to have a natural birth without drugs, write a birth plan to that effect, noting that breathing exercises will be your primary mode of pain management.

Step 2

Wait for a contraction before you start your breathing exercises. Most contractions will begin with a tightening around the uterus before they become painful, so you'll know when a contraction is beginning. If you're giving birth in a medical center, monitors can also alert you to the beginning of a contraction.

Step 3

Take a deep, cleansing breath, suggests the American Pregnancy Association. The cleansing breath readies you to begin exercises for pain management and focus. Breathe in deeply until you cannot fill your lungs any further, then breathe it all out to begin.

Step 4

Focus on something in the room. It might help to bring a picture of family or a similar comfort item from home to look at as you endure a contraction. Make your body go limp and give yourself over to the contraction, releasing tension. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. You can choose steady breathing, where you count in for three and out for three, or light breathing, where you breathe in for three quick breaths and out in three quick breaths.

Step 5

Alternate breathing exercises to find the one that works best for your pain management. You may prefer long and steady breaths at the beginning of labor, then switch to light breathing when contractions begin to intensify. You might also find that, while in the throes of labor, you choose your own type of breathing. Remember that there is no "wrong" way to breathe while laboring; use whatever breathing exercises work best for you.

Things You'll Need

• Picture or other comfort item

Breathing

Weil Breathing Exercises |

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Breathing exercises provide a natural form of stress relief that promotes your health at the same time. You can practice breathing exercises anywhere once you have mastered them. Start in a quiet location where you will not be bothered if you are easily distracted. Regular use of breathing exercises can make you less prone to health issues, according to Dr. Andrew Weil.

The Stimulating Breath

Perform the stimulating, or bellows, breath exercise to increase energy levels and alertness, which makes this an excellent breathing exercise to practice in the morning. The stimulating breath involves inhaling and exhaling deeply and quickly through the nose with the mouth closed. Inhalations and exhalations should last the same amount of time. If you are not making noise while breathing, you are doing the exercise wrong. Dr. Weil suggests trying two or three in-and-out breath cycles per second--the "bellows" name comes from the rapid cycle. Start by practicing for 15 seconds, increasing by 5 seconds at a time as you progress until you reach a full minute. Try not to breathe shallowly, as this could make you lightheaded.

Relaxing Breath

The relaxing breath, or 4-7-8, exercise focuses on breathing to a count. While sitting straight and comfortably, press your tongue against the roof of the mouth, just behind the teeth. After inhaling through the nose for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 7 seconds. Exhale the breath around the tongue out of the mouth for 8 seconds. Begin with three cycles of this and increase as you see fit. This exercise should produce a calming effect, according to Dr. Weil.

Breath Counting

Breath counting, another form of meditative breathing, may help reduce stress and anxiety levels. Dr. Weil's breath counting exercise requires you to sit comfortably and straight while breathing normally. Take a few deep breaths with your eyes closed to prepare yourself. Go back to breathing normally. When you are ready, continue breathing normally while counting every exhalation as one. Once you reach your fifth exhalation, start again at one. So this means you inhale and exhale five times. Do not increase this exercise as you do the others. Instead, practice for longer periods of time, repeating the cycle of counting from one to five. Dr. Weil suggests aiming for 10 minutes of breath counting.

Exercises

How To Use Breathing Exercises For Anxiety |

We all experience anxiety from time to time. How we choose to deal with it can determine the control it has over our daily lives and our ability to accomplish tasks. There are many ways to reduce anxiety, but one of the most convenient is to practice breathing exercises. Breathing exercises can be done anywhere, as soon as you feel anxiety coming on. They help to relax you and allow you to refocus.

Step 1

Sit in your office chair, on the floor or, if it is convenient, lie on the floor on your back.

Step 2

Rest quietly and pay attention to each part of your body. Recognize those areas where you feel stress or tension. Focus on the speed and deepness of your breathing.

Step 3

Place your hands on your abdominal area, and feel it rise and fall with each breath.

Step 4

Breathe in through your nose deeply. Your breath should fill your abdomen, causing it to expand. If it doesn't, you should focus on breathing more deeply.

Step 5

Imagine forcing the air into your extremities as you breathe in.

Step 6

Exhale slowly, yet forcefully, through your mouth, while keeping your mouth and jaws relaxed.

Step 7

Imagine the tension you feel leaving your body and melting to the floor as you exhale.

Step 8

Repeat the breathing exercise for five to ten minutes. Refocus and return to your work with less anxiety and a new outlook.

Tips and Warnings

• It's okay if you have less than five minutes to perform breathing exercises. Taking even a few breaths while following these steps will relax you. If possible, do these breathing exercises in a quiet atmosphere, free of distractions.

Breathing

Breathing Exercises For Free Diving |

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Free diving is an aquatic activity in which you hold your breath while diving under water. It uses the human body's ability to lower its pulse and shrink blood vessels to endure high pressure and no oxygen while diving without an oxygen tank. Free diving can be dangerous, posing health hazards for your heart, lungs and body. However, performing breathing exercises for free diving can help your lungs become conditioned to the physical demands required.

Condition

Step 1

Perform aerobic exercise two to three times per week to help increase your lung capacity. During aerobic exercise, your small blood vessels widen to deliver more oxygen and reduce carbon dioxide buildup. The more aerobic exercise you do, the better your body will become at holding your breath for longer.

Step 2

Perform Pranayama Yoga to increase lung capacity by improving the flexibility of your rib cage and allow your lungs to fully expand. According to "Yoga Journal," this type of breathing exercise boosts lung capacity by strengthening your diaphragm.

Step 3

Condition and stretch your lungs by performing the lung stretch exercise. Inhale deeply, filling your upper and lower chest to capacity, then exhale forcefully to eliminate all air in your lungs.

Exercise

Step 1

Warm up your body and your lungs by inhaling deeply, holding your breath at the top of the breath, then exhaling over a five-second time period. Repeat five or six times to finish your warm-up.

Step 2

Inhale deeply a few times, then hold your breath for one minute. Walk slowly as far as you can before taking a breath. This allows you to record how far you can go before taking a breath.

Step 3

Practice deep breathing exercises to increase your lung capacity and learn how to reduce your heart rate so your body consumes less oxygen. Place your hands on your stomach and exhale completely out of your mouth. Inhale deeply through your nose, pushing your hands out with your stomach. Now, hold your breath for five seconds, increasing each time you do this exercise. Slowly release the air through your mouth.

Tips and Warnings

• Perform breathing exercises for free diving daily in order to increase your lung capacity and enable you to dive for longer.
• Free diving poses health risks for your heart, lungs and body due to the intense water pressure and length of time your body goes without oxygen, so speak with a doctor before beginning free diving.

Exercises

Exercise & Breathing |

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Proper breathing can enhance your exercise experience with an increased availability of oxygen to the muscles and organs. Although breathing is an automatic function, it is often done incorrectly. Shallow or mouth breathing is ineffective but common, particularly during exercise. The effects of aging, shallow breathing and disease may decrease your oxygen intake. Practicing breathing techniques, exercising to strengthen supporting musculature, and cardiovascular training can effectively improve your breathing quality.

Significance

Breathing allows for an intake of oxygen and release of carbon dioxide gases from the body. This exchange occurs in your lungs. The more efficiently this exchange can occur, the greater your potential for optimal health. You breathe in oxygen, using your diaphragm to expand your lungs. The airway tubes carry the air to the alveoli, where an exchange is made. Your blood picks up the oxygen and drops off the carbon dioxide, which you breathe back out.

Potential Problems

Due to the increased need and rate of airflow during exercise, there are a variety of problems that you may experience. Aging, disease and restrictions from injury or lack of use can all impact breathing and curtail its effectiveness. Exercise-induced bronchospasm is a disorder that causes the air tubes in your lungs to get smaller. Some of your symptoms may include shortness of breath, coughing, chest tightness, and wheezing. According to Netwellness, a cooperative of partner universities, "about 80 percent of people with asthma experience EIB." If you are diagnosed with asthma, this condition can then be referred to as exercise-induced asthma.

Breathing and Exercise

As you exercise, your need for oxygen increases. This is readily apparent when you perform cardiovascular exercise, which requires an increased rate and depth of breathing. Training this system allows you to more efficiently obtain enough oxygen.The health benefits of cardiovascular training are well documented, with the American Heart Association recommending that you get 30 minutes of moderate activity five days a week.

Breathing Techniques

Practicing and training can help you to increase your breathing effectiveness, allowing you to improve your oxygen intake. The University of Missouri-Kansas recommends the Chinese technique for retraining mouth breathers by practicing nose breathing. To use this technique, take 3 quick breaths in through your nose without exhaling while at the same time raising your arms out to your sides, moving them higher with each breath to open your chest. After the third breath, exhale and lower your arms. Humming with exhalation is another technique you can practice. Take as deep of a breath as you can. Hum during exhalation, pushing as much air from your your lungs as possible.

Breathing Exercises

The abdominals and diaphragm are essential muscles in the breathing process, and strengthening them will allow you to breathe more easily. Here is a simple exercise you can do to strengthen these muscles. Begin by lying on your back with your knees bent and your hands on your stomach, directly beneath your ribs. Breathe in through your nose, feeling your hands rise with the expansion of the diaphragm. Release and repeat. Once you are comfortable with this, repeat this exercise, allowing your chest to fully expand. There should be a rolling effect from your stomach to your chest.

Exercises

Breathing Exercises For Running 1.5 Miles |

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Running efficiency during a 1.5-mile run depends on several factors, including rhythmic breathing and cardiovascular training. Beginning runners often feel out of breath after short distances, which results from a combination of untrained breathing and an untrained cardiovascular system. Often, that feeling of oxygen deficiency is related more to your body's inability to transport oxygen fast enough to your muscles than to a shortage of oxygen coming in through your breathing, writes Dr. Jason R. Karp in the Washington Running Report. Even so, you can train your body to use oxygen more efficiently by adopting a breathing rhythm and incorporating breathing-centered exercises into your training.

Step 1

Experiment with breathing ratios during slower running to help you find a rhythm that works for you. Breathing ratios, with practice, eventually enable you to breath efficiently automatically. The ratio refers to the rhythm of inhaled breaths to exhaled breaths. Start with a ratio of 3-to-2, meaning that you breath in for three steps and out for two steps. Some runners perform more efficiently using a 2-2 ratio, so find the rhythm that feels more natural and practice the breathing technique during slow, steady runs.

Step 2

Adopt a shorter breathing ratio for faster runs. During sprints, practice a 2-1 inhale-to-exhale ratio. Try emphasizing your breathing by taking two separate breaths in and exhaling one breath for every three steps, which translates into an "in, in, out" pattern. Eventually, you will ease into a breathing pattern automatically during runs, but focusing on deliberate breathing patterns is beneficial when first starting out or when increasing your speed or distance.

Step 3

Incorporate interval training and distance training into your running schedule. According to Karp, interval training, longer runs and increased weekly mileage all lead to improved performance of your cardiovascular and metabolic systems. If your goal is to breath and run more efficiently during your 1.5-mile runs, you will benefit from training your body to adjust breathing during intervals of slow and fast running. Learn to switch breathing ratios based on your speed. The longer runs keep your body from reaching a training plateau and improve the quality, speed and efficiency of your 1.5-mile runs.

Step 4

Add yoga to your cross-training schedule. Not only will yoga help elongate the muscles that tighten and compact during running, but it also teaches breathing techniques that will enhance your runs. According to Bally Fitness, yoga teaches you to control your breathing, a skill that "can help relax you and lower your heart rate when running."

Breathing

Good Breathing Exercises |

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While there are a number of breathing techniques that are taught in various areas of sports and fitness, traditional yoga breathing exercises, also referred to as pranayama, have been studied for their health benefits. A study published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine from 2002 shows that pranayama exercises not only help in relieving stress but also improve the antioxidant levels of individuals, leading to stronger immune function. The following traditional yogic breathing exercises can be practiced alone daily or prior to yoga or other workouts.

Ujjayi

Ujjayi comes from the Sanskrit word meaning "victory." The ujjayi breathing technique is also sometimes called "ocean breath" due to the soft sound it produces. It is practiced by slightly constricting the muscles in the throat to control the flow of air in and out of the body. The exhalation should last twice as long as the inhalation, and each breath repeated anywhere from 10 to 20 times. According to Yoga Journal, this exercise helps to calm the body and mind by slowing down the breath.

Kapalbhati

Kapalbhati, or the "cleansing breath," is used to clear toxins from the lungs and blood stream. The quick pace and full breath allow the lungs to oxygenate the blood quickly. Those practicing the technique for the first time may experience mild light-headedness. Kapalbhati is done by forcefully expelling all the air through the nose, squeezing the abdominal muscles, then inhaling and filling the lungs quickly. The stomach and diaphragm are used like bellows to pump the air. Repeat each breath in rapid succession, for 30 to 40 breaths. Kumbhaka, or breath retention, usually follows this exercise, in which the breath is held for 20 to 30 seconds, or as long as is comfortable.

Simhasana

Simhasana, or lion pose, is actually a yoga posture combined with a specific breathing technique. It is practiced by kneeling on the floor, with the spine erect and the feet crossed over one another. The hands should rest comfortably on the lap. The breath is performed by inhaling deeply through the nose, then opening the mouth wide, extending the tongue, and exhaling strongly while making an "ahhhh" sound. The eyes should be looking upward and the fingers extended like claws. This may be repeated two or three times. The Yoga Journal points out that Simhasana helps to relieve tension and stress.

Mrigi Mudra

Mrigi mudra is translated as "deer seal." It is actually a hand-breathing technique designed to help balance the mind while developing focus and concentration. It is practiced by dropping the index and middle fingers of the right hand, making a "claw" with the hand which is used to open and close the nostrils. The thumb is pressed on the outside of the right nostril, while inhaling slowly through the left. Using the ring finger and thumb together, both nostrils are pinched shut while the breath is held briefly. Next the thumb is released, allowing the air to be released through the right side. The next inhalation is through the same side, and the process of holding the breath is repeated. The final exhalation is through the left nostril. This whole process is repeated two to three times. This is a more advanced technique, and may take some practice.

Breathing