Wake Up! Reiki Blog

Have you ever noticed how you breathe when you get stressed or panicked? The breath becomes short, shallow and only the top part of the lungs are used. This type of breathing results in poor oxygenation of the blood and a CO2 overload in the body. Prolonged exposure to this type of breathing can result in the physical manifestation of panic attacks, asthma attacks and seizures.

I have noticed in myself and in many of my clients that suffer from abuse that this breathing pattern is a subconscious habit. The body remains in a constant fight or flight state at some level. So people that are “trapped” energetically into dysfunctional breathing NEVER really relax. As a matter of fact these people don’t even understand or know what total relaxation feels like. They also do not know what “being in your body” feels like at all. They are constantly trapped in their heads and deny feeling anything in their body because it is in so much pain and emotional discomfort.

I have remedied this dysfunctional breathing in myself after years of practice and experimenting with different breathing techniques and exercise modalities. Now I wish to share a greatly boiled down and effective version of breath training with all of you. It is very simple and direct, short and sweet. So it will fit well with all of the busy people out there that needs a quick release and recenter.

First sit up straight and tall with your feet on the floor. Next put a peaceful angelic half smile on your face. You the Divine Smile you see on Buddha statues. Just put that on and observe how that makes you feel all over. Next we are going to breathe in that peaceful smile into your body and let flow all into your body. Now exhale black, stress, strain, panic and negative emotions. In again with your Buddha Smile let go of all the tensions in your body and out black. One more time in Buddha Smile and let of everything, relax all your muscles and out black.

Let’s now mention how to breathe in and out properly. When you take in a breath, first fill up your low abdomen with air and let it fill you up from the bottom up to your shoulders. In other words your tummy pokes out first and then your mid chest and then your upper chest. When you release your breath, you push it down and deflate from the shoulders down to the lower abdomen. In other words the shoulders relax and sink downwards first then the mid chest and finally push the breath out of your tummy. This is a complete Yogic breath. It’s powerful and hyper-oxygenates the body.

Breath in the yogic realm is also known as the way we connect to Higher Consciousness or Higher Power. So, this breathing will also greatly enhance your connection with and to Higher Power as beautiful side effect!!

Try practicing Ten Quiet Breaths per day for one week. Do the Smiling Buddha Breathing Exercise above x 10 breaths once a day for one week. I would like to hear feedback on how that impacts your life and health!!

Here are some helpful videos for you too:

This one is very scientific and interesting. The teaching of the breath is a bit different than my technique above. I tried it and really like and feel like this breath is the next step for me. Please be sure to do what is helpful and resonates with your body right now.

Namaste!!