17/05/2026
A student once told me her chiropractor said she “didn’t know how to breathe”, she asked me for advice. Here’s my take on this:
First of all she of course knows how to breathe 😅, she’s born with it, but she may lack breath awareness and a little bit of skills.
One of the repetitive things you’ve heard in a yoga class is probably “deep breath in to your belly”, anatomically it is impossible because your lungs are not in your belly, and I often find students having a “wrong” interpretation on deep breaths.
If we take a big gulp of air and the breath finishes in 1 second, does it make it deep? Obviously the answer is no. A better idea is to focus on length, not depth. Let’s do 2 simple things about this.
1. Start With Asana Practice
Most of us work in front of the computer and the byproduct is tight shoulders and chest. These muscles are linked to our breathing, and even the diaphragm is a muscle. Asana practice helps us remove muscle tensions, once the body is relaxed, it is easier to breathe well.
2. Focus on exhaling
Short breaths imply nervousness. Exhalation lowers blood pressure and heart rate, as a result calm down the nervous system. By exhaling longer, we can trick the brain to relax. We don’t want to force ourselves to breathe more, slow breathing automatically gives more depth.
It takes some practice to build breath awareness, and if you are interested in learning more about this essential skill, you should sign up for our upcoming workshop “How to breathe well”. I will share more in the coming posts.
How to breathe well?
3-Hour Workshop on The Most Important Thing For Survival
Date: 28/6/2026 (Sun)
Time: 2-5pm
