For breath is life, and if you breathe well you will live long on earth. ~Sanskrit Proverb
All of us know how to breathe correctly, right? Wrong.
In fact, most people do the minimum amount of breathing required for survival. They don’t breathe in a way that will enhance their life and performance. I would like to share with you some thoughts on how to breathe in a way to experience life more powerfully, to live more fully and to improve almost every aspect of life. As Elizabeth Barret Browning once said, ‘He lives most life, whoever breathes most air.’
Increasingly, I am starting to look at the martial arts more as life arts. As a way to look closely at myself and the world around me. That the quality of our existence is based upon how well we do four basic things: breathe, move, relax, and carry ourselves (posture). In this article I am going to concern myself with the first one – breathing.
When people first come in to classes to start learning a martial art, or just to get healthy and mobile again, they are surprised when I tell them that I am really only going to teach them four things: how to breathe, how to move, how to relax and how to keep a good posture in everything that they do. This is crazy they think. I have been doing that since I was a toddler.
In truth, most people are pretty bad at doing them. Actually, VERY bad at them. Most do them just well enough to survive or get the job done. They are amazed that the smallest changes to any of these four habits can make dramatic changes to the quality of their life. Small changes to all four, in a very short space of time, will change the way you interact with the world and those around you.
Breathing is the very foundation of living. But the last time you probably had any training in it, was when you were born and the Doctor or Midwife smacked your backside to encourage you to breathe. In fact, the only people that I know of who learn or practice breathing, are yogis, musicians or singers and maybe some athletes.
When done properly correct breathing can:
- Calm and relax you.
- Improve your mood.
- Clear your mind.
- Put things in perspective.
- Optimise physical performance.
- Increase stamina and endurance way beyond where we think our limits are.
- Give us increased energy throughout the day.
- And restore us fully and quickly from exertion or a stressful episode.
For a martial artist, it is quite simply the tool that enables us to stay calm and clear thinking under pressure and the power that fuels our every movement and motion. If you can breathe better, you can move better. If you can move better, you can relax more and keep your mind and movements free and clear. As the epic poem goes, ‘If you can keep your head, while all around you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, yours is the world and everything in it.’
When you can let your breath power move you and not muscle power, you tap into an unlimited resource. But here is the crucial part….whenever we need it the most, we stop doing it.
There are three things that will make a big difference to your breathing, whether you are a Martial Artist or not. 1. Inhale through your nose. 2. Breathe deeply and smoothly and 3. Don’t interrupt or stop your breathing. This sounds obvious, but most of you won’t be doing any of these things. You certainly won’t be doing all three.
Listen; are you breathing just a little and calling it a life? ~Mary Oliver
What you should really be striving for is continued uninterrupted breath throughout the day. ‘Of course I do this’, I hear you say. Well, just try to catch yourself next time you are lifting something, making a sudden movement, getting angry or het up over something, or are fearful or anxious. Chances are you will have stopped breathing.
When they are under stress or strain, most people stop breathing. Whether that is physical strain, e.g. lifting something or moving quickly, mental strain in trying to work something out, emotional strain when under pressure, or in a tense or strained business or personal situation, or all three such as when we are under a physical attack. Breathing is life. Holding our breath is a sniff of death.
As students learn new skills, I very gradually increase the amount of physical, mental and psychological pressure. In class, I am constantly pointing out to people that as soon as there is a little pressure, they hold their breath.
Very quickly, people start to notice their breathing even outside of class. From this point on, they take this realisation to everything that they do. Their art begins to positively affect every aspect of their lives. They learn to regulate their breath according to the level of strain. The more strain, the faster the breathing, (catching up with the heart rate), then smoothly bringing the heart rate and level of panic or stress down and back to smooth, regular breathing. Students learn to breathe fully, without fear, apprehension or strain.
Fear is excitement without the breath. ~Fritz Perls
When we hold our breath, we deprive the body of oxygen and this puts us into an increasing state of panic (in training we do sometimes purposefully hold our breath for physical and mental reasons). Our ability to think clearly starts to diminish. Our body starts to tense, restricting our freedom of movement, our freedom of thought and creativity also starts to diminish. Without oxygen, our physical performance goes rapidly down hill. The key, through training, is to condition the body to breathe constantly and fluidly, in EVERY moment of our lives. Breathing is the gift of life and the key to optimum performance.
The nose is for breathing, the mouth is for eating. ~Proverb
Nasal breathing does several things. Firstly it regulates air temperature to 35 degrees. The optimal temperature for the lungs. It moisturises the air adding one litre of water to the internal environment for the average person. It clears the mind by interrupting the flat spin of panic or fear cycles and it stimulates the production of nitric oxide (NO gas), which is a relaxant. It is also a bacteria-killing agent. I ask students to strive to breathe in through the nose at all times. Especially when they are under strain. This will activate the para-sympathetic nervous system, which will calm them, as opposed to the sympathetic nervous system, which will increase levels of stress and anxiety.
Breathing Deeply
Most people breathe in a way that is inefficient and shallow, moving their shoulders and chest. Correct breathing involves moving your diaphragm up and down. Breathing smoothly, deeply and fully, will oxygenate and energise the body fully.
The first exercise we do in class is designed to get people breathing properly. They lie on their backs and do variations of breathing, but always through the centre of the body. So they breathe into their abdomen. The breathing will involve smooth, regular, deep breathing to fully oxygenate the body ready for practise, bring the body and mind together and bring awareness into the body finding out where it is tense, sore, stiff etc. They practice deep breathing, over a count of say seven in and out with occasional breath holds. They then move to practicing this as a walk and light run. As they do this they are coordinating their movement with their breath and using the breath to fuel their movements. Training in this dramatically improves their ability to endure.
It takes a while to retrain decades of bad breathing, but after a while people are able to consciously do it. The problem is that they then default to bad or no breathing under stress, when they need it most, and it takes conscious intervention to correct and ultimately change the habits. Initially they don’t realise that they are breathing incorrectly until they are told. Breathing really becomes effective when done well under stress and not just when consciously doing a breathing practice such as mediation or a yoga pose.
After a while this type of breathing, in synch with movement and the demands of the body becomes the norm and students breathe and move calmly, fluidly and with purpose.
Put simply the aim is to breathe deeply and freely in every moment of life. Whenever you can think of it, take a moment to appreciate life with a deep breath. For whenever you breathe you affirm that you are alive. My daughters, aged 5 and 4 respectively have just started training in the children’s class. My sincere hope is that at their young age, they learn to breathe deeply and fully without tension, apprehension or fear. That knowledge of how to breathe properly sustains them through their lives helping them to better manage difficult situations and to deeply appreciate the experiences of life. I wish I had that training at that age.
In class once students can breathe fully and relaxed without fear, tension or apprehension. They are then ready to start thinking about moving….
Come and try it out: For a fun, informative and potentially life changing one-day workshop on breathing, moving, relaxing and posture join Jamie Robson and I in Melksham on Saturday November 16th. More details here.
Testimonials:
“After so many years of back and knee pain I find that within just 2 months I can manage steps with a feeling of real strength in my knees and legs and almost no discomfort. For the first time in over 10 years I find I am now sleeping through the night without being woken by back pain. I’m even finding that when I lay in bed in the morning there is much less pain or discomfort. I can now bend over at the basin in the morning and clean my teeth without being in agony, something I never thought I would do.” – Gareth Leake
“After 8 years in Martial arts I can now roll straight up onto my feet, rather than putting my knee down. I have also found out that I can now jump from kneeling to standing. I contribute this new found ability to my daily practice of the four pillars of Systema, especially squats. They have opened my hip joints while removing tension from my legs. I have managed to achieve this new skill in a little under 4 weeks. With this in mind I am inspired to carry on discovering new freedoms that the four pillars can provide.” – Karl Durrant
“Just getting in touch to let you know that after just 8 weeks I’m feeling the benefits of Systema training in everyday life!
I’ve noticed that during times of pressure at work I am better able to identify the early signs of stress and prevent it from affecting my mood and productivity. Overall as a result of Systema training I am much more mindful of the state of my body and psyche (and often the state of others around me) and so feel equipped to deal with adversity in a relaxed manner and thus feel much more relaxed on a day to day basis. From a physical standpoint my body also feels refreshed. My joint mobility and strength is continuously improving and my ability to endure strenuous exercise improves without fail each time I apply Systema breathing techniques.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and time so generously.” – David Greenwood
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