DAY 10
WARM-UP: BASIC BREATHING
1.
Sit or lie on your back in a relaxed position. Breathe through the nose. Take three deep breaths. Then allow your breathing become even and find its natural rhythm.
2.
Bring one hand to your rib cage and the other on your abdomen. Notice whether it is your abdomen or chest that rises when you breathe in.
3.
Make a conscious shift from chest breathing to abdominal breathing. As you breathe with your diaphragm, your abdomen will rise and your rib cage will remain still. Keep the breathing rhythm relaxed and natural.
Try to keep your focus on your diaphragm at all times.
​
Your breathing muscles strengthen with practice. A strong respiratory system makes breath-hold training easier and more natural. So never force yourself to hold your breath.
WARM-UP: 30-sec ONE-BREATH BREATH-HOLD
1.
Using pursed lip breathing, fill your lungs with air as slowly as you can. First use the diaphragm, then expand your rib cage.
2.
Relax. Drop your shoulders and let your head gently fall forward.
3.
Hold your breath for 30 seconds.
4.
Let the air out of the lungs and breathe calmly for 30 seconds.
​
5.
Repeat the exercise four times.
​
​
If the exercise feels too difficult, you can shorten the breath-hold duration. If it feels easy, take in less air.
When you hold your breath with emptier lungs, the partial pressure of carbon dioxide rises more quickly.
​
The urge to breathe is caused by high carbon dioxide partial pressure. Carbon dioxide accumulates in your body when you don’t exhale it out.
BREATH-HOLD EXERCISE
​
In this exercise, you will hold your breath for 30 seconds with a single inhale.
1.
Gently blow air out of the lungs through your mouth.
2.
Using pursed lip breathing, slowly fill your lungs with air.
3.
Hold your breath for 30 seconds.
​​
4.
Empty your lungs and immediately fill them again using pursed lip breathing.
5.
Do many repetitions as you can. The number of repetitions is increased as you continue to follow the exercise program and your body adapts to increased carbon dioxide levels.
When starting out, even three repetitions may feel like a lot. If you can do 10 repetitions, you can extend the duration of the exercise.
In the beginning, three repetitions may feel like a lot or work. If you are able to do more than 10 repetitions, the next step is to try the exercise with your lungs less full of air.
​​
​
Each breath-hold will feel more difficult due to the increased carbon dioxide levels, despite the oxygen in the body. Carbon dioxide does not get out of the body during one exhalation. Increased carbon dioxide levels will trigger the urge to breathe.
