How to Do Deep Belly Breathing For Agitated Minds
“Come back to your body.”
I was listening to a podcast by Kelly Surtees about self-care tips for managing Mars Retrograde Gemini. She talked about the influence of Mars Retrograde on our minds. Overthinking and buzzy minds are just one of the many effects of the planet Mars in the Air sign of Gemini. She referred to this as “agitated mental energy.” This mobility of the mind is a classic Vata imbalance. (Check out this post to learn more about the Vata dosha and Ayurveda).
Heightened overthinking in the mind can be remediated through a receptive meditative state. But because of our hectic schedules, not everyone can commit to hours of meditation each day. When Kelly said, “come back to our body through breathing” this cemented my belief of how vital it is to practice all of the 8 limbs of yoga.
In fact, the breath is so integral to our practice as yogis that it has its own limb of yoga practice devoted to it called Pranayama. They are breathwork techniques to help you direct your energy however you need it.
On my blog (What is Yoga?), I compared the experiential methodology of yoga to a tree with 8 different limbs. Before reaching the blissful state of yoga called samadhi, we have to practice the Yamas, Niyamas, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, and Dhyana.
In the podcast, she mentioned a deep breathing technique (deep belly breathing), and I wanted to expand on how this can be incorporated into your yoga practice.
As a child, I often heard statements like “just breathe” or “take a deep breath” when people were agitated, anxious, or about to explode from anger. Unconsciously, this is one of the key components of yoga.
We breathe deeply, not shallowly, when calming our emotions. And when we practice yoga, our mind connects with our body using the breath as our link.
Belly breathing is one effective means of manipulating our inhalations and exhalations for fuller breath. On a physiological level, it stimulates our endorphins, which evoke joy, calm, and relaxation. It also improves blood circulation by increasing the levels of oxygen in the body. The level of cortisol is low, which reduces our stress levels.
Interestingly enough, we use our diaphragm to breathe rather than our chest. The diaphragm is the fundamental muscle that governs breathing not the lungs. Let’s take a second to break the anatomy down.
When we breathe through our diaphragm, our belly rises and falls upon inhalation and exhalation. Each inhale causes the diaphragm to lower to allow more space for oxygen to be sucked into our lungs due to a change in pressure systems. And each exhale causes it to rise in order to literally push out the carbon dioxide. So although it seems that our lungs are expanding and compressing on their own, it is really our diaphragmatic muscle that is moving.
So why breathe into our bellies? Breathing into the abdominal cavity allows us to take a much deeper breath than chest breathing alone. In fact, chest breathing is relatively shallow. And most of us, especially in the West, tend to breathe shallowly. As you might know, when a person is panicking, overwhelmed, or stressed, they begin to breathe rapidly. However, the trade-off with rapid breathing is that it is shallow.
So imagine a scenario where a person is having a panic attack and feels like they can’t breathe. They begin hyperventilating, i.e., breathing shallowly and rapidly. Which means they can really only breathe into their chest. But because chest breathing is shallow, they feel like their breathing is constricted or restrained. (Because it is, although more so than usual due to its fast rate.) This causes them to feel more panicked. Their safety feels in jeopardy. This is all making them continue to gasp for air as if their life depended on it. Which is feeding their panic. Which is feeding shallow breathing. And the cycle continues.
What do we normally say to them to switch them out of this sympathetic “fight-flight-freeze” state? “Take slow, deep breaths” of course! Slow deep inhales, followed by even longer exhales, are the switch that turns off this panicked state and switches us into a parasympathetic “rest and digest” state. We no longer feel like we are in danger. We are able to heal, learn, grow, and process (or digest) our circumstances.
So belly breathing helps get us to this rest state. Because it helps us inhale and exhale more completely. It is much quicker to get thrown into a stressed state than to come out of it into a restful state. So if you had a tool that could help you get there even just a little bit faster, wouldn’t you want to take it?
The best thing about this breathing method is that it doesn’t take 60 minutes of your time. You can do it for 60 minutes or you can take as little as 6 slow deep breaths.
Throughout your yoga practice, you can use this technique to reap all the benefits of conscious breathing.
Benefits of deep belly
breathing:
Relieves tension and calms the nervous system
Reduces fatigue and relieves pain
Increases immune system
Lowers Hypertension and strengthens lungs and diaphragm
Builds up core muscles stability and corrects postures
How to do deep belly breathing:
Spend at least 5-10 minutes doing deep belly breathing together with your meditation practice.
Find a comfortable position. You can sit in a chair or on the floor. Elongate your spine as if a string is attached to your crown and is pulling it up to the ceiling/sky. On the floor, use a pillow or blanket to elevate your pelvis above your hips.
Before practicing pranayama, relax your body and release the tension in your hands, feet, legs, arms, shoulders, neck, or face. Wherever you are holding it, let it go. Then, close your eyes or soften your gaze as you breathe through your nose.
Place one hand on your upper chest and one on your stomach. Inhale slowly and feel the rise of your belly against your hand. Then, exhale slowly. Feel the air move up and out as your navel draws in toward your spine.
Continue taking deep breaths for a few minutes. Do not strain yourself. As much as possible, keep your chest still. Only your stomach should be moving.
Once you’ve mastered the technique, incorporate this into your asana or while doing the pose for our yoga challenge.
Please keep in mind that this is not a substitute for therapy and medication. It is still best to consult your physician if you have a medical condition. However, deep belly breathing is highly effective in reducing stress and anxiety. It stimulates a calming physiological response, making you feel happy, unrestrained, and optimistic.