Breathe your way to good health

By Daisy Carrington, amNewYork Deputy Features Editor | daisy.carrington@am-ny.com

October 31, 2007

Every exercise book and magazine boasts a magic routine guaranteed to bust your gut or build your glutes. However, few, if any, offer breathing exercises. Perhaps this is because health editors assume we all know how to breathe, but it's surprising how many of us forget to do just that when lifting an especially difficult weight, or -- more important -- when we're simply stressed out.

"Living in a competitive 24/7 city like New York, we bring stress to our lives in the form of perceived ego threats," said Amy Elers, the director of teacher training at Joschi, a yoga and Pilates studio in Chelsea. "The solution is simple: Come home to your breath."

Here she offers some tips for breathing away unwanted anxiety.

1. Breath of joy

With a short, sharp inhalation through your nose, life your arms up toward the sky. Inhale a second time, sweeping your arms down to your waist and back up to your side as you do so. Inhale a third time, sweeping your arms back down to your waist and then overhead. Take a full, smooth exhalation through your mouth as you release your upper body forward and swing your arms down and back. This breathing exercise will give you energy and clear your mind.

2. Alternate nostril breathing
Sit comfortably and erect in any meditative position with your eyes shut. Close your right nostril with your right thumb. Inhale slowly through your left nostril and fill your lungs. After inhaling, close your left nostril with your right ring finger. Let go of your right nostril and exhale slowly through it. After you complete your exhalation, repeat until you feel calm and relaxed.

3. Uljayi (victorious breath)
Sit comfortably in any meditative posture. Take a long, smooth breath in through your nose, slightly restricting the back of your throat as if you were fogging a mirror. Bring your palms together in front of your heart. Exhale deeply and slowly through your nose and push your hands out to your sides. With your next inhalation, bring your arms overhead, palms touching. Exhale deeply and bring your hands back in front of your heart. Repeat six to eight times.

4. Three-part breath
Sit comfortably and rest your hands on your belly. Inhale, breathing into the lower part of your lungs so that your belly inflates like a balloon. Bring one hand to your chest and release the other one onto your leg. Expand your breath to fill your chest up to your collarbone. Feel each chamber expanding as the breath flows from the lower, middle and upper region of your lungs in a wavelike motion. Bring your other hand to your belly and exhale from the top of your lungs, slowly emptying the top, middle and bottom. Repeat until your breaths become smooth, even and uninterrupted.