5 breathing exercises and tips for feeling warmer and healthier on Winter days.
This time of year can take its toll on the respiratory system. Cold air normally means dry air and this can make breathing deeply more difficult for most of us. Here’s a few exercises and tips for healthier, happier lungs:
1. WAKE UP
This will warm you up in no time. A great breath exercise to practice before breakfast. This is a tweaked version of Kapalabhati where you breathe out through the mouth. This can stimulate the digestive system, energises and warms the body and calms the mind.
How to practice:
- Sit with a tall spine and relax the face. Allow there to be space between top and bottom jaw.
- Rest your palms gently on your thighs.
- Take a few deep breaths to prepare.
- Take a deep breath in fully through your nose and exhale fully through your mouth.
- Then inhale three quarters of the way through your nose
- Then quickly exhale with a little force through the mouth.
- Allow the breath in through the nose and out through the mouth with a quickening rhythm.
- With each exhale forcefully push the air out of your lungs using the strength of your diaphragm and abdominal muscles.
- Continue for 10 to 20 cycles. Take a rest in between cycles.
2. WARM UP: The original Breath of Fire exercise. Bring this pranayama into your everyday routine. It’s great for cleansing the lungs, exercising the diaphragm, warming the body and boosts the the circulation.
Once you are confident with this practice you can try it in plank pose to stoke the fire a little more.
You should take time to build up to the full practice of Breath Of Fire. If you haven’t done this before, start with a short amount of time – say 30 seconds and at a slower steadier pace. You may need to blow the nose before embarking on this one!
- Sit up tall but don’t be rigid, lengthening the space between your pelvis and throat. Use a block or bolster if you need more support for the hips and lower back.
- Breathe in and out through the nose. Make sure the jaw is relaxed. On the exhalation, through the nose, pull your abdomen back towards the spine and then immediately inhale, encouraging it to rise. Exhale strongly through the nose. You can imagine the belly filling with air on the inhale and use the abdomen muscles to push the air out on the exhale.
- Start to shorten each breath and then pick up the pace so it sounds like a steam train on a mission. The breathing should be loud and quick but there should be no discomfort.
- Aim to make the inhale the same length and strength as the exhalation.
- Repeat this rhythm of breath for 30 seconds. Take 15 seconds rest and repeat for upto 3 minutes (30 secs exercises 15 secs rest)
- Feel the fire in the belly
3. WRAP UP. Each time we exhale, we loose moisture from our body and the lungs can struggle if the air that’s entering the lungs is cold and dry. To support our inbuilt heating and humidifying system (the nose and windpipe helps warm the air we breathe before it enters the lungs) we can wrap a big scarf around the nose and mouth (not too tightly!), which helps us breathe easier in colder weather as it will help retain moisture and water for our next inhalation. A little like breath recycling!
4. REST UP: During these long winter months, our natural energy can take a nose dive and the lack of sunlight and limited time outside can make us feel all too sluggish. Transformational Breath is fast, effective and easy to practice and is my go to breath exercise to boost my energy. Here’s how to practice a little on your own. Always practice indoors in a clean air space.
Prop yourself up on the bed or on a yoga mat with cushions or pillows to support your back and neck at a semi-reclined angle so your chest is higher than your legs.
Make sure you are warm and comfortable, and that your head and neck are properly supported. Have your hands face down on your lower abdomen, a few inches below the navel. Relax the jaw and open the mouth wide (this can be tricky if there is tension in the jaw so open wider than you think is wide!) and take a deep inhalation – the belly should rise on the inhalation.
Allow the exhale to leave as a soft short sigh. Keep all your focus on the inhalation. Inhalation should be about three times as long as the exhalation. Exhalation should be a quiet and relaxed. Then start connecting the breath, so no pauses between breaths.
Repeat between 3 – 5 minutes only and notice any physical sensations in the body. Rest for one minute as you return to a normal breathing pattern – breathing through the nose
5. POLLUTION SOLUTION: Have you noticed more car exhaust fumes lately? Warm air rises and can take these pollutants up and away but during a cold spell these pollutants stay nearer ground leaving them nearer our breathing space. You can wear the big scarf mentioned above to help act as a barrier and choose your walking routes wisely. Avoid busy roads, where cars are bumper to bumper. Use Clean air app to help you navigate around Cities via the cleanest air routes. City Air and London Air track air quality and you can find out how to travel and dodge the pollution. Finally, during the winter months, we spend more hours indoors so fill your house and workspace with as many green plants as you can handle. I love www.succulencelondon.com!
All written by Aimee Hartley, Founder of The Breathing Room www.thebreathingroom.co.uk