Hello friends,

Just breathe. It’s simple right? Our bodies just do it, without effort. Unless illness stifles this natural process, our breath is a gift that just keeps on giving. What if we took the time to truly appreciate it, at least once a day? Acknowledge it, surrender to it. I’m certain we’ve all said it, “Relax and just breathe.”

Somewhere inside us we already know it is essential for calming and replenishing. We just forget, we get busy running errands, paying bills, mowing lawns or even planning the next little getaway before summer ends. Our air quality has reminded me how truly precious our inhales and exhales are.

Have you ever found yourself holding your breath without thinking about it? Do we hold onto our breath like a bad habit, or do we reward it with gratitude and healthy choices? Do we pollute it with toxic thoughts or stifle it without realizing it?

That heavy sigh usually indicates we’ve been holding onto something, and it’s not just our breath. Take a step back and look into what it really is.

Photo Credit: Dina McLeod

I find the human body fascinating, as it just finds our breath, catches it and regulates it for us. Think about it right now, all the inhales and exhales you’ve taken without appreciating them. We’ve all had chest colds and a stuffy nose, and many of us have ached watching loved ones in their struggle to take in oxygen, gasping for that precious resource we so easily forget about. Or perhaps you’ve been fortunate enough to witness a baby take their first breath of air.  

It’s a gift that is simply beautiful when we purposefully allow it the freedom to swirl through our bodies, replenishing every little edge with life giving oxygen.

Increasing your fitness level expands your lungs and their ability to take in more air. If you practice yoga or enjoy other types of fitness like running, hiking, cycling, paddling, swimming, walking, dancing or you have a labour intensive job, you know how important breathing is.

Stress can make our breathe shallow, which doesn’t benefit us at all. When we expand our breathe with intention, it helps us calm from every cell. I know when I sit and just breath I feel more at peace with myself and the world around me.

Photo Credit: Dina McLeod

Here’s a couple of suggestions that have worked for me. At first they may feel a bit claustrophobic as your brain will try to take over and just do it for you.  Practice a few minutes or even a few seconds each day.

When the shower first hits my body, I stand and just breath, slow and controlled.  I allow the water to douse my head, run across my face, tilting down so my nose and mouth are able to accept air. Counts of four second inhale and five second exhale with a pause on each end.

I’ve been able to build up to only a mere 12 in and 14 out, and that seems to be my threshold at this point, and I’m ok with that.  I repeat only four or five times, or as long as I continue to feel any type of ‘holding on’ or stress, it’s rare that it doesn’t dissipate quickly (less than a minute) when I genuinely appreciate the process.  

Yogic breathing is another option, and can be practiced anywhere, although people might look at you funny if you start doing this in a line up at the grocery store!  Since this type of breathing is not a personal discovery of what works for me, I will share the directions found via my Gaia Yoga App that I use often from the comforts of home.

Gaia Yoga offers several types of breathing exercises, and I’ve found the alternate nostril breathing to be incredibly refreshing! Here are their instructions:

“Sit comfortably with your spine erect and shoulders relaxed. Keep a gentle smile on your face and close your eyes. Place your left hand on the left knee, palms open to the sky or in Chin Mudra (thumb and index finger gently touching at the tips).

Place the tip of the index finger and middle finger of your right hand in between the eyebrows, the ring finger and little finger on the left nostril, and the thumb on the right nostril. We will use the ring finger and little finger to open or close the left nostril and thumb for the right nostril. Press your thumb down on the right nostril and breathe out gently through the left nostril. Now breathe in from the left nostril and then press the left nostril gently with the ring finger and little finger. Removing the right thumb from the right nostril, breathe out from the right.

Start five to five count inhales to exhales and work towards doubling exhale out. Breathe in from the right nostril and exhale from the left. You have now completed one round. Continue inhaling and exhaling from alternate nostrils. Complete nine rounds by alternately breathing through both the nostrils. After every exhalation, remember to breathe in from the same nostril from which you exhaled. Keep your eyes closed throughout and continue taking long, deep, smooth breaths without any force or effort.”

All you have to do is plug one nostril while inhaling with the other, release and repeat. Do your own thing, and see the benefits for yourself. Give it a chance to work, it really does, I promise!

With a blissful sigh, and joyful exhale I wish you all happy breathing! Life is waiting, live it now!

At 49 years old, Dina McLeod has found full body wellness/awareness the key to embracing life. Born on Vancouver Island, her love of the fresh outdoors and genuine desire to stay grounded only grew when she relocated to Kamloops in 1998. She is proof that living a healthy, balanced life can be achieved at any age or fitness level. Her motto: Life is waiting, live it now!