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Tibetan Breathing Technique

Here is a simplified version of a Tibetan breathing technique I learned from a Rinpoche (a term meaning “precious teacher”) who was an expert in lung breathing:

To become aware of your breathing, place one hand on your upper chest and one on your belly, four fingers below the navel. You need to do this only at the beginning to get a sense of where the breath goes and to give it focus. Breathe in through the nose, taking in an even stream of air as though you were breathing through a straw. As you breathe in, let your tongue rise to the roof of your mouth and bring the air down into your belly. Let your stomach swell out and expand. (You may have to undo your jeans to do this.)

As you breathe out, (again through the nose) let the stomach come back gently. Try to get a steady rhythm going, taking the same depth of breath each time. Your mouth should be softly closed, with your lips and jaws relaxed, or slightly open if your jaws clench with closing. The hand on your chest should have little or no movement out, as there should be only a slight expansion to the sides and lower part of the chest. Take the same depth of breath each time you breathe in, breathing slowly, steadily, and deeply into the belly.

The next step

When you begin to feel comfortable with this technique, try to slow your breathing rate down by putting in a short pause after you have breathed in and before you breathe out again. Initially it may feel as though you are not getting enough air, but with regular practice this slower breathing rate will soon start to feel comfortable. The next step is to allow the breath to be evenly taken in and allow your belly to extend outward. Hold the breath with the belly extended for several seconds before breathing out. A good starting point seems to be a very slow count of six, slowing it down even more as you become more comfortable.

The long-term objective is to breathe most of the time with the belly and not the chest, aiming for about six to eight breaths per minute. This will require holding the breath in the lower belly each time for as much as fifteen to twenty counts—the longer, the better. This is a slow, relaxed process; it shouldn’t take effort. Increase the counts as you feel you are able.

The mind effect

Focusing on the in and out rhythm of the breath has a meditative effect, and developing this rhythm will prevent other thoughts from entering your mind. If you become aware of other thoughts, just notice them as they show up and let them go. Bring your attention back to the breath; breathe in, belly out, pause, hold, breathe out, belly in; breathe in, belly out, pause, hold, breathe out, belly in.

Keeping the lung energy, which travels down from the head, through the solar plexus, and down below the navel, with at least fifteen percent in the belly, and then back up again is something to work toward. Each of us has a propensity to tighten up and hold in one area or the other—head or solar plexus—wherever we get a little more stuck when stressed. When stress is high, we often trap the lung energy in both areas. While doing the breathwork, hold an intention for the lung energy to move down into the belly with the breath.

When to do it and the result

If you practice this technique for ten minutes twice a day, and for a shorter time whenever you become aware of the constriction of your breath—when you are restless, anxious, fearful, or depressed—you will begin to strengthen the responsiveness to breath and find more ease in extending your abdomen. You will experience relaxation and mind clarity right away. Developing this skill will leave you with a nice, relaxed feeling of ease, a clear head, and a sense of calm. You will be very capable of concentrating and focusing. Breathing this way in the morning and taking a few moments to do it throughout the day will help you shift toward a state of mind less dominated by thinking and emotion.

This does not have to be a dramatic exercise; you can do it in the car or even in a business meeting. You might have to make it a little more outwardly obvious and dramatic at first to get your body accustomed to the practice, but then just begin to integrate it into your normal everyday way of being.

Rae Hatherton is the author of Alive! An Energy Plan for Life, and The Alive Recipe Collection Sculpting Your Body With Food (http://alivethebook.com). A naturopath, certified massage therapist, teacher and body/mind energy coach, Rae works with food combining, circadian rhythms, breath, meditation, acupressure, teas, movement and coaching to help her clients transform their health, their hormones, their energy and their lives. She lives and works in Toronto and has an office in Louisville, Kentucky. To learn more about Rae’s work, visit http://tibetanenergymedicine.com.