Re: Improve breathing...

[Guest guest]

At 07:55 PM 2/27/2002 -0800, you wrote:

>Improve breathing (I am a wind instrumentalist/singer who has NEVER

>felt he has gotten enough air...often gasp like a beached fish.)

It is likely you may not be getting rid of excess carbon dioxide during

your breathing - which exacerbates the feeling of not getting enough

air. I am assuming you have no known lung troubles.

I recommend Yogic breathing to increase the lung capacity and

efficiency. Simply, it is breathing in about 3 steps 1) inhale breath into

the lower abdomen (the abdomen sticks out a lot); 2) continue the same

breath into the mid-thorax (the chest sticks out a lot); and 3) continue

the same breath into the upper thorax - the upper part of the lungs under

the collar bones (the shoulders raise up slightly). Reverse the steps: 1)

exhale the air from the upper thorax; 2) continue to exhale the air from

the mid-thorax; 3) continue to exhale by contracting the abdomen until

*all* the air is gently but purposefully pushed out of the lungs. The

separate steps are ignored during the practice of this breathing so the

breathing is done smoothly without stopping.

The inhalation is generally done in about 1/4 to 1/3 the time that the

exhale takes - so I count about 4 on the inhale and about 12-14 on the

exhale (and I purse my lips to control the amount being exhaled). It is

important to go to the extremes at both ends to add extra oxygen during

inhalation and to remove excess carbon dioxide during the

exhalation. There is much literature on the subject with many nuances in

the methods and many different methods I have not mentioned.

Done over a long period of time this will help tremendously. The idea is

to incorporate that type of breathing into every breath forever after (24 x

7) It works - I've been doing it nearly continuously for about 20 years. ;-)

Regards,

-=mark=-