3 Easy Breathing Methods to Control the Moment
Breathing is one of the most simple things you do; you don’t even have to think about it. But if you take the time to control the breath you’ll discover that you can do anything you set your mind to. Here’s 3 simple breathing exercises that can lead you to better energy management and taking control of the moment.
Breathwork and Energy Management
Whether you’re staring down a 30 putt for the win, dangling on the side of a cliff, or surviving a trip to the grocery store with your kids, breathwork is the key to success.
Your body is amazing!
We’re going to start with how looking at the human body and recognizing how capable you actually are. Your body has the capacity to accomplish tasks and to take in stimulus and make amazing changes and adapt to what is happening.
The problem comes when our mind tries to take over. When we have been living narratives in our mind, “oh, I’m not strong enough for that.” Or “I’ve tried before and failed at this so I just can’t do it.” Physical abilities are real, but nothing is stopping you from developing those abilities except you.
*I hear you about to type a comment below and say something about genetic dispositions or disabilities, etc. I maintain that yes those will alter what you’re capable of but not as much as your mind is doing to you. Check out my friend Vasu Sojitra if you don’t believe me.
Getting Started
So, first you have to recognize and realize that you are capable of anything you can set your mind to. And I firmly believe that following some eastern practices of breathing is what will get your mindset right. Everything we work on at Wild Pack is all about mindset. Start practicing this in your everyday life by noticing the times you doubt yourself. Then start shifting when you have those thoughts from negative to something more akin to, “I can do this.” or “I am capable.”
When we talk about breathing, particularly deep breathing, I’m referring to breaths that draw air into the lower parts of the lungs, and not ust in the upper chest like most of us do most of the time. There’s so many of us that go through our life and slowly learn to breath terribly, through the mouth and shallow into the upper chest.
But this is one of the hardest parts in my opinion is to develop a healthy habit of breathing that you’re always doing. Simply put you should be breathing through your nose all the time and that rate should be low. The current standard of health at a hospital is around 20 breaths a minute…that’s insanely high. As you learn to control your breath, through your nose, that number will decrease. And a lower breathing rate will lead to a lower heart rate. Which leads to your body’s autonomic responses being healthier.
So book a clinic and get some better everyday breath coaching, it will literally change your life.
3 Types of Breathing Exercise
No everyday breathing aside, lets talk about ways you can control the moment and start succeeding.
Getting Amped Up
Often times we need to get the energy up to take on the task in front of us. This is something I do before heading up a cliff, dropping a canyon, or starting a disc golf round to help get my energy flowing and in the mindset I need to crush. I also do this every morning to start the day.
This is a simple Pranayama Breathing made popular by Wim Hof.
Get comfortable
Lie down or sit comfortably, somewhere you can’t get hurt if you pass out…yeah this breathing can get super real!
Focus your mind
I prefer to bring my focus to a point between my eyes. This is what is referred to as the Third Eye. And as we bring attention to it (your prefrontal cortex) you’ll notice that it’s very blank…for awhile. Then your thoughts start to wander and you just bring it back.
Meditation is about focus, then refocus, then refocus, then refocus. Eventually the time of wandering thoughts will be less and less.
Deep breathing cycles
Next we’re gonna start some deep inhales followed by exhales. Fairly quick paced but going fully in, deep into the lower lungs.
Feel your belly rise on the inhale, and flatten on the exhale.
Your skin will start to prickle. You’ll start to feel lightheaded.
If that starts to happen…keep breathing toward that feeling.
That’s the CO2 leaving your body and sending signals to your brain to start pumping oxygen into red blood cells. Overproducing those oxygenated cells deep into your tissues.
We’re gonna do 30-ish deep breaths in and out.
Breath hold time
After 30-ish deep breaths, or when your body feels charged with energy, breath everything out and hold.
You’re gonna hold this for as long as you can.
Let the body just relax.
This is a real good place to practice building your mindset. You are capable. You can go longer than you think you can.
When you think you absolutely have to breath, hold it just a bit longer.
Breath in deeply and hold that breath in for 10-15 seconds.
Repeat this 3 to 4 times.
This type of breathwork will flood your body with adrenaline, increasing your energy and putting you in a flight-or-flight response. This is good. This is a practice for us on how to set our mind and control our body in stressful situations. It’s a workout for your parasympathetic response systems.
Focusing the Mind
When we’re overstimulated, excessive amounts of energy will wreak havoc on the tasks laid out in front of us (it’s also my personal opinion that those of your friends who claim to be insomniacs just need to learn this). So, we need the ability to calm the mind. Again it comes back to controlling your breath, which leads to you being able to control the moment, which leads to you getting the outcomes you’re after.
We’re talking about Bhramari Breathing or Bee Breathing.
How to do Bee Breathing:
Relax the body.
It’s best if you can get into a comfortable sitting or laying down position, but I often do this while walking or hanging on the side of a cliff.
Close the eyes.
As you get comfortable and begin to breathe deeply in and out of your nose close your eyes and notice your connection to the ground, where you feet touch.
Plug your ears.
Plugging your ears with your fingers will shut off the outside noises and distractions. If you really want to get into it deeper go look up shanmukhi mudra and do that too.
Start Buzzing.
Take in a deep breath through your nose. Then on the exhale (through your nose) let out a humming or buzz like a bee.
Repeat process.
Do several Bee Breaths and then sit in silence for awhile with your focus on your breath and energy.
The hardest one to accomplish in my opinion is maintaining the current energy you have. Once you bring attention to it, “Oh my gosh I’m doing great and in a flow state!” you start to leave that flow state and the energy levels start to shift. Your focus starts to turn to other things. And soon you find yourself either needing to increase or decrease your energy.
Here’s what I do when I notice myself coming out of the flow state, I start doing a few sessions of Box Breathing. This allows me to dive back into that mindset by giving my mind a simple breath to focus and allow my body to take back over and start accomplishing what it needs to do.
How to Box Breath:
Slowly inhale
Inhale through the nose, deeply into the belly. As you do this count to 4 very slowly. Notice your lungs filling fully and the air entering into your nostril. Focus your mind on the breath.
Hold the inhale
After the 4 second inhale, hold that breath in for 4 seconds. Focus the mind on a single point.
Slowly exhale
Start to exhale all the air out of your lungs, counting to 4 as you do. Keep that mind focused on a single point.
Hold the exhale
Once the air has been exhaled, hold that for a count of 4.
Repeat as desired
It’s that simple. I usually am aiming for really slow counts to 4, not necessarily 4 seconds. If you can go with less and less breathing it can have amazing benefits and getting you back to center, back to flow, and back to winning.
When to Try These
The reality is sometimes you can’t do all of these at the moment, for fear of social pressures, time allowed, driving in a car, etc. But you can take the ideas of these and adjust them to your own needs and situations.