Breathing Therapy
Question: Of course I have been breathing since I was born. Does how I breathe affect my health?
Mimi: Deep Breathing helps eliminate stress. Ask a singing or voice coach or a drama or speech teacher to teach you diaphragmatic breathing. When you breathe in, your belly should pooch out. If your chest rises when you inhale, then you are breathing shallowly. When you exhale, your tummy should go flat. Learn to breathe from the belly.
Whenever you are stressed, take a few deep breaths. Here is a breathing exercise that helps eliminate stress. Pinch one nostril closed. Breathe in deeply thru the open nostril. Slowly count 1,2,3,4,5. Hold the breath, and then release the air thru your mouth as you silently count 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. Close the other nostril and repeat.
For anger control, if you are face to face with a person, take a step back. Take a deep breath and let it out slowly while looking the person in the eye. Silently count to 10, just as your grandmother taught you. Relax your shoulders, jaw, and your facial muscles. All of this relaxes your voice so you are not shrill. If you are a woman and confronting a man, he will dismiss you as a shrew if you raise your voice in either the volume or pitch. So lower your voice by half an octave and speak softly.
The nose has a left and a right side; we use both to inhale and exhale. Actually they are different; you should be able to feel the difference. The right side represents the sun, left side represents the moon.
During a headache, close your right nostril by pressing in with your finger and use your left nostril to breathe. This will cool the brain. In about 5 minutes, your headache will be gone.
If you feel tired, just reverse, close your left nostril, and breathe through your right nostril. This will warm your senses. After a while, you will feel your mind is refreshed.
Right side belongs to ‘hot’, so it gets heated up easily, left side belongs to ‘cold’. Most females breathe with their left nostrils, so they get “cooled off” faster.
Most men breathe with their right nostrils; they get worked up.
Do you notice the moment that you wake up, which side breathes faster? Left or right? If left is faster, you will feel tired. So, close your left nostril and use your right nostril for breathing, you will get refreshed quickly.
The Secret to Long Life is to keep breathing. As long as you keep breathing, you are still alive.
Mimi Barre is the owner of International Day Spa, 325 Cajon St., Redlands.
Send your skin care questions to her at MimiB@INTLdayspa.com. She and her estheticians are available for personal consultations. (909) 793-9080. Past columns of Ask Mimi are on the web at www.INTERNATIONALdayspa.com.
