Step 4 : 2 Secrets to Life: Inhale & Exhale

After slowly decompressing your back, giving your feet a rejuvenating roll to loosen up all your muscles, and drinking sufficient amounts of water, the next step is the use of breathing.

Commonly known as pranayama,  this is an exercise of breathing that I've used both to calm my nerves and sleep, or even keep myself warm when I'm stuck out somewhere freezing my butt off; or even just getting ready to exercise or cooling down from an exercise.

Firstly, take up a comfortable sitting or standing position, straight back, shoulders back, and head up, eyes focused on a point in front of you.

There is the slow breathing, using your diaphragm, similar to the muscles you learn to use for singing - relaxing your chest and shoulders and abs, using the diaphragm muscle just below your ribcage, letting it fill your abdomen and expand your back muscles too.

1. Take a deep breath in slowly without lifting your chest or shoulders. You may need to start out by pushing your ab muscles out to get a feel for where your diaphragm is, and simultaneously push out with your lower back muscles.

2. Once you've taken in as much air as you can, you should be able to feel the diaphragm pushing down (just below your ribcage).

3. Slowly exhale and force all your breath out, contracting your ab and back muscles in, and you should feel your diaphragm pushing up into your ribcage (keep chest and shoulders relaxed).

4. Now that you know what the diaphragm feels like, relax your chest, shoulders, abs and back, and with that muscle just below your ribcage, push down to let your lungs fill with air - filling out your abdomen and back to displace, but leaving the muscles relaxed.

5. Hold for 1 count, then relax the diaphragm slowly and breathe out.


The second style of breathing is fast breath, or breath of fire. And there are a couple of ways to do this. My breathing rhythm for cardio is in-two-out-two, so, for my breath of fire, I do two pulses with my diaphragm to inhale and two pulses to exhale. Ideally, you should get to the point of quick single pulses in and out, using only the diaphragm.

1. Inhale for 1 count, pushing down with the diaphragm
2. Exhale for 1 count, relaxing the diaphragm
3. Continue at a steady rhythm for 30-60 seconds

4. For a second round, do the inhale pulse and exhale pulse as fast as possible (making sure to only use diaphragm) for 30 seconds