What Does it Mean to Take a Deep Breath?

reflections on the new moon

“I lied and said I was busy.

I was busy;

but not in a way most people understand.

I was busy taking deeper breaths.

I was busy silencing irrational thoughts.

I was busy calming a racing heart.

I was busy telling myself I am okay.

Sometimes, this is my busy -

and I will not apologize for it.”

― Brittin Oakman

Happy New Moon, Yoga Mamas and friends! No matter how chaotic or adrift I feel, I try my best to pause and nod at the new moon. In this fast-paced, modern world — and in my busy life as a mama with a never-ending to-do list — I remind myself that some of our most powerful movements and progress are cyclical, repetitive, and gradual. So in writing this, I’m here to remind you, too:)

What do I mean by that, though? When I say that cyclical progress is often more meaningful than linear progress, what I mean is that those things we do repetitively and gradually usually go deeper. Sure, linear progress like getting a degree or starting your own business are things that we might map out as movement from point A to point B. But sometimes the simple things that we do, the small things, are what make it possible to make those big jumps from A to B.

For instance, this pause I take every month to reflect on the new moon: it gives me perspective and focus so that when I make a move to achieve something big, I have some guidance and grounding. A great example of a cyclical, repetitive, and gradual practice in yoga is surya namaskar, a.k.a. sun salutations. With each repetition, you change a bit and prepare yourself for your practice as you warm up.

So on this new moon, I’d like to share my thoughts on what it means to take a deep breath. We are often told that if we just take a few deep breaths, we can calm down. But what is the best way to breathe deeply?

The exhale

It’s so common to think of a huge, long inhale as a deep breath, but there are at least two parts to a deep breath: inhale and exhale. Over the years, I often cued students to exhale first before taking a slow, deep breath in. Why?

Everyone breathes in their own way, but many people don’t fully exhale. That means there is much that we haven’t released from our bodies if we don’t exhale: we don’t release as much carbon dioxide and tension as we could, because exhaling is also a powerful way to release tension. Try it with a sigh!

Also, if you try it, you’ll notice that exhaling fully requires some effort (it should never feel strained, though!). You might gently use your ab muscles to really empty the lungs. The inhale, on the other hand, will happen naturally without your effort, once you have fully exhaled. Pause now to try this.

Once you get the gist of focusing on your exhale, then you can try to make the exhale the same length as the inhale. For instance, inhale for four seconds, exhale for four seconds. You can try this for three seconds or five or six. Pay attention to which length of breath feels most natural to you.

A smooth breath can be just as relaxing and rejuvenating as a really long, deep breath. If we want to lengthen the breath, though, it helps to make a little space in the body. That’s what I’ll get into below.

Opening up to the breath

This next bit is an excerpt from my WIP, a yoga mama manual for busy moms! I’ll announce when this will be released as the time comes near, but for now, here’s a taste:)

There are so many great books and resources on yoga and breathing that I don’t intend to replace all that here. Instead, let’s try a simple exercise to help us sense the breath in our bodies. So much about breathing well is about being able to feel how the breath changes the shape of your body and how you feel it in different areas of the body.

You probably hear a lot about breathing into the belly, which is so important for taking a full inhale, but I’d like to ask you today to try to breathe into other areas, too, like your pelvic floor, the sides of your ribcage, your back, and even your toes. This takes imagination as well as awareness. There’s also a fine balance between deepening the breath and rigidly controlling it.  In fact, sometimes trying to control the breath can make us less receptive to a deeper breath. In those cases I use sound, motion, and imagination to slow down and deepen my breath. Here are a few little explorations to help you expand and relax the breath.

1. Back breathing: it’s very typical to think of the breath as expanding forward into the chest and belly, but we can make the breath much deeper by also breathing into the sides and back of the torso. Get yourself into child’s pose, perhaps with some support under the forehead and/or between hips and heels. Arms can rest alongside the body or stretch forward gently with palms on the ground. Notice how the inhale expands into the back of the ribcage. This can also be done in poses like paschimottanasana, uttanasana, and cat pose, but child’s pose is generally a more relaxing option. Whichever pose you choose, breathe slowly and deeply as you sense the inhale expanding into the sides and back of your ribcage.

2. Focus more on the sensation, not just the length of the breath. In a seated or standing position, feel the ribcage expand out to the sides with each inhale and relax with each exhale. It can be helpful to rest the hands on the sides of the ribcage and breathe into them with each inhale 

3. It can seem more intuitive to think of the inhale as energizing or engaging and the exhale as relaxing and releasing. This is true, depending on how you are moving or how you are positioned, but if you bring your attention to the pelvic floor, almost the opposite is happening: on the inhale, the pelvic floor relaxes and on the exhale, it engages. Some call this piston breathing. If you have a hard time feeling this, maybe sigh a few times to loosen up or exhale with an open mouth and relaxed jaw.

Okay friends, that’s it for now. I encourage you to take a moment of pause on this new moon and spend some time with your breath. It can be for a few breaths or a few minutes! Notice how this simple, vital cycle — our breath — gives us all the power and focus we need to do what we do, and to fully enjoy it, too!

In the coming week, I’ll post a video guiding you through the practices mentioned in this post. Until then, please try one or two of them!  I’d love to know if you did and how it felt. I’m also happy to answer any questions here in the comments that you might have about these breathing practices.

Also, stay tuned for the upcoming Fall offerings. I mentioned more details in my previous post about what you can expect if you opt to become a paid subscriber:)

Thanks for reading, and I hope you take a breather today, and every day after!