Be the bartender of your breath!
Did you know you can be the bartender of your own breath?
Just as drinks can make you feel a certain way so can your breathing. I have three breathing techniques for you that can give you the same effect as their named drink.
WATER
Perfect for any time of the day, from last thing at night to the first thing you have when you wake up. Our water breathing helps to balance us out, when you're up it brings you down and when you are down it brings you up.
BREATHING TECHNIQUE:
Inhale through your nose for 4 and back out through your nose for 4. Try ten rounds of this to leave you feeling calm, cool and collected.
COFFEE
Who's coffee mad in the morning?
If you can't make it through the day without several cups of coffee this one is for you. The breathing technique should be used sparingly! It is perfect for before exercise as it fires you up and taps into your sympathetic nervous system.
BREATHING TECHNIQUE:
You will take a deep inhale through your nose then exhale sharply through your nose like a sort of sneezing sensation. You will take 20 short sharp exhales. The trick is to focus on the exhale as the inhale will come naturally between each breath out. Try three rounds of this sequence of 20 maximum!
WHISKY
Now as a Scot it would be rude to miss this drink out of our line-up!
Just as whisky makes us sleepy so too does this breathing practice, making it perfect for before bed. Here we are going to slow down our rate of breathing per minute and get ourselves into our rest and digest state (parasympathetic nervous system).
BREATHING TECHNIQUE
Inhale through your nose for 4 and exhale out through your mouth on a "ha" sound for 8! The first time you try this you may get "breath hunger" as exhaling for 8 can be hard. My top tip is to imagine you are exhaling for 10 so when you get to 8 its mentally not as hard. Repeat this breathing sequence 10 times before bed.
So what will it be?
Water - Great anytime of the day
Coffee - First thing in the morning or before exercise
Whisky - In the evening to relax or before bed
Oceans of love,
Niamh x
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