Conscious Breathing for a Joyful Life! Love Cycle Shares Breathing Techniques to Free Yourself From Stress!

Life can be hectic. Our day to day lives are busy enough with us trying to stay afloat, but that doesn't stop fate from throwing us curve balls. We can never control what the world expects of us, just as we cannot control the ocean while swimming, but we can change how well we swim with the current.

A key to freeing oneself from the stress of life is breathing. Your breath will not stop the pressures of existence, but it can drastically change how well you can handle them.

When I speak of breath, I do not refer to the ongoing, unconscious process that is keeping us alive. I am instead referencing the conscious and controlled breathing that one does during meditation. One does not need to be meditating to breathe in this way, but it is always meditative. The techniques I describe below are useful in a traditional meditation session, or any time you feel your thoughts or emotions running away from you.

There are many ways to consciously breathe. The most reliable way that I have found to quickly calm down is to take a long, slow inhale through the nose; feeling my belly rise like a Buddha and finishing with my chest expanding in all three directions. Inhaling through the nose is important, as it helps filter the air and keep impurities from entering you.

At the apex of the breath, when I feel like I cannot inhale any more, I hold it for a moment. I then exhale slowly through my mouth, which is slightly cracked open in a smile. One's facial expressions have a positive feedback mechanism on the mind; for instance, smiling will cause one to feel more happy, while keeping tension in the face cause one to gradually grow more stressed. Keeping a slight smile is very calming and allows for one to let go of their thoughts easier.

I continue exhaling until all air is out and I feel my lungs are empty. I then hold it for a moment, and then repeat the process, inhaling through the nose. I have found that pressing the tongue to the roof of my mouth while inhaling is particularly calming. I have read and discussed with master healers how this is a means to activate the pineal gland. I suspect that this is a built-in reward mechanism which helps babies feed, but I don't have scientific data to back up this claim.

I repeat this process several times, until I am calm and my thoughts are quiet in the background, or have faded away completely. Occasionally at this point, I begin fire breathing, which is a phenomenal way to to release dopamine in the brain. Fire breath is a series of only short exhales through the nose. When I first started learning fire breath, I had difficulty maintaining for very long because I ran out of air and needed to inhale. Since then, I have learned to focus on my solar plexus, using it to create a slight exhalation from quick, minimal contractions in my belly.

The key to getting a major dopamine rush from fire breath is having a long, controlled exhale at the end of each segment. After 15-30 small exhales, this final long exhale should leave you feeling completely empty and light in your mind and body. After holding for a moment, I return to a couple normal, controlled breaths before repeating. I usually do 3 segments of fire breath each breathing session, and then return to a controlled breathing that is similar to the above method, but shorter and quicker.

Try it for yourself and you will quickly be amazed at how much joy is open to you. Humans have forgotten how to truly breathe, and its time for a major comeback. Give your lungs some love and breathe deep!