Conscious Breathing
"Breathe in the first breath of dawn and make it a part of you – it will give you strength."
The Hopi people
How do you breathe in everyday life?
Everything we do affects our breathing. We cannot overstate how important breathing is for our physical and mental health. When you breathe in an optimal way, the body is effectively oxygenated, and the internal organs, brain, and muscles get the oxygen they need. This improves your overall well-being, vitality, life energy, and concentration. It strengthens the body and creates harmony and balance. In these sessions, we will look at your breathing pattern. We will do exercises to improve your breathing, release tension, and get the breathing muscles to work more effectively. It is a pleasant moment that creates harmony and relaxation.
Price for the course
600 SEK for an individual session, approximately 1 hour.
300 SEK per person for groups of at least 4 people, approximately 1-2 hours.
This course is great for you if you want to learn more about your own breathing pattern. You may experience tension in your body and sometimes have difficulty taking deep breaths. It’s ideal for those who want to relax, create calm and harmony in both body and mind, or if you’re feeling stressed and need to unwind. It’s a very pleasant, calm, and nourishing moment.
Where and how?
Stenaberga Gård Sandvångsvägen 89 Gladsax
Either you have booked an individual session or you are joining one of my group breathing sessions. You can also book me for your workplace, conference, kickoff, etc. You will receive exercises that you can do at home.
Questions
Call 0733783227 or email info@stenaberga.se. Read more about conscious breathing by clicking on the topics that interest you.
Lecture
I would be happy to come to your workplace, school, or organization if you'd like me to give a lecture on breathing and/or lead breathing exercises. You are also welcome to bring your group and come here to Stenaberga Gård for the same setup.
Approximately 2 hours + break
Price by arrangement.
Breathe correctly and you will improve your overall health condition.
When oxygen and carbon dioxide are perfectly balanced, the blood can transport oxygen into your cells with maximum efficiency. Your internal organs, such as the intestines, liver, and kidneys, are massaged so they can function better. You become clearer in thought because the brain receives the oxygen it needs. The brain takes about 25% of all oxygenation. Oxygen vitalizes, repairs, and strengthens your cells. It slows down aging and boosts your immune system. Optimal breathing improves sleep, and studies have shown a reduced risk of heart arrhythmias and high blood pressure. When the body gets the oxygen it needs, a sense of calm is created, making it less likely for you to fall into stress. By oxygenating the body optimally, you stay healthier and more vital. Exhalation is a way to remove waste products, which is why it's important to hydrate after a breathing session.
Breathing is a central part of your recovery.
You are exposed to quite a lot of stress every day. We now know how much harm long-term stress does to the body and our cells. It's not wrong to be stressed from time to time. The important thing is that the body has time to recover and calm down. Preferably several times a day.
Stop and place your hand on your stomach. How does it feel in your body? Where is your breath? Is it high up in the chest, or are you able to breathe down into your body? Am I getting enough oxygen? Take a few deep breaths all the way down into your stomach. Lengthen the exhale. 6 breaths or fewer per minute means you are activating your relaxation system, the parasympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system. (see below) Just a few minutes are enough for your body to recover and calm down. Breathing is really that simple. Perhaps that's why we have such a hard time understanding what an amazing tool it is. When we breathe optimally, we can get a little recovery with each breath. Stopping several times a day and breathing consciously in a way that benefits the body is a huge health investment. Since we experience so much stress, good breathing is perishable. You need to return to your breath every day to keep the diaphragm and breathing muscles relaxed and flexible. This way, you can correct your breathing to a healthier pattern. With good breathing, you help your body enter deep rest and relaxation, where it can heal and recover. When tensions release, you gain more strength and energy. A tense body is often a tired body.
The diaphragm
The diaphragm is your large breathing muscle. It sits like a sail in the lower part of your chest, at the diaphragm. It works like an umbrella, so to speak. When you inhale, the lower part of the lungs pushes down the diaphragm, causing the stomach to expand outward, and when you exhale, the diaphragm returns, and the stomach moves back in. This is commonly referred to as breathing with your stomach. When you breathe this way, the air first reaches the lower part of the lungs. This is where the body finds it easier to absorb oxygen. It doesn't mean that the breath always needs to be large. It's this movement that is so important for your body's well-being, for your oxygenation, and for massaging your internal organs. The diaphragm moves best when it is relaxed and elastic.
The diaphragm is controlled by your autonomic nervous system (ANS) (see below), which also governs how you react to external stimuli. In stressful situations, your body’s built-in defense system is activated. Your muscles tense up, which restricts the diaphragm’s natural movement. This means that any form of stress, fear, or negative emotions you experience in daily life disrupts your breathing if you are not aware of how to influence it. The result is that your body, brain, and internal organs are not optimally oxygenated. By being aware of this, you can quite easily restore your breathing to become more organic and natural.
When the diaphragm is allowed to work naturally, it activates the parasympathetic part of our autonomic nervous system (our rest-and-digest system). This signals to the body that everything is calm, there’s nothing to worry about, and that it can relax. In this way, we can use our breathing to signal and guide the body toward a calmer and more harmonious state.
The Vagus Nerve and ANS: Autonomic Nervous System
The vagus nerve works closely with the diaphragm. Known as the "long wanderer," it’s the longest nerve in your body, containing around 80,000 nerve fibers. It runs from the brainstem down through the torso, winding around your organs. The vagus nerve is a vital part of your parasympathetic nervous system (see below). Its role is to collect information about the state of your body. When the diaphragm moves optimally, it activates the vagus nerve. The parasympathetic nervous system then signals to nearly all of your organs that everything is calm and safe. Your body starts to produce endorphins and hormones that build up and repair your cells. With the right breathing techniques, you can activate the vagus nerve and quickly shift into the parasympathetic part of the ANS. The vagus nerve passes close to the larynx, so you can also effectively activate it through the vibrations of your voice. (See Holistic Voice Yoga)
New research suggests that with the right stimulation of the vagus nerve, you can reduce inflammation in the body.
The sympathetic part of the ANS activates your defense system.
ANS, your autonomic nervous system, is what enables you to react automatically to external stimuli as well as your thoughts and emotions. Stressful situations, fear, and negative thoughts and feelings activate the sympathetic part of ANS. This causes muscles to tense up, which hinders the diaphragm's natural movement. When the diaphragm can't work properly, breathing becomes shallow and moves up into the chest, reducing oxygen intake in the body. When the body doesn't get enough oxygen, it creates even more stress and starts producing stress hormones, cortisol and adrenaline. This can create a vicious cycle with even more muscle tension and diaphragm restriction, which can lead to panic attacks. Stress hormones are essential for getting out of bed, staying motivated, taking action, and responding quickly to danger. However, prolonged exposure to these hormones wears down the body, causing inflammation, damaging cells, and weakening the immune system. Today, it is widely recognized how negative long-term stress impacts our bodies. In this state, you no longer have the same access to yourself. The brain doesn't feel it has time to send impulses over the longer nerve pathways to the neocortex or prefrontal cortex, the newer parts of our brain that have a greater capacity for complex, multi-step thinking. Conscious breathing can help you step out of a stressed state and into the calmer part of the ANS, the parasympathetic nervous system.
The parasympathetic part of the ANS makes the body relaxed and calm.
By being mindful of your breath, you can quickly restore it to a more beneficial rhythm for your body and mind. When the diaphragm moves in a relaxed and natural way, it activates the vagus nerve and the parasympathetic system. With adequate oxygen and the diaphragm’s gentle massage of internal organs, the body receives signals that everything is calm. This allows it to relax and start producing endorphins and hormones that promote well-being. These hormones repair, vitalize cells, and bring balance to the body. The more relaxed you are, the more your capacity for learning and growth increases, and your social interactions improve. It becomes easier to feel joy, hope, and love, both for yourself and others. Through conscious breathing, you can guide your body to a calmer and more harmonious state.
The breath is the forgotten gateway to our soul.
In the West, we have unfortunately lost touch with our ancient knowledge about breathing. But in older traditions, it still lives on as an oral and practical tradition. Some traditions have documented their knowledge and wisdom, especially in the East. Thanks to yoga and its significant breathing paradigm, Pranayama, we are beginning to reconnect with breathing. In ancient traditions, breathing has been used in various ways: as a bodily and spiritual cleansing process, as a medical practice to strengthen the body’s self-healing abilities, and to connect with spiritual, deeper dimensions within oneself. Breathing exercises provide access to deeper parts of oneself and nourish the source of creativity. In our Western culture, we are just beginning to reconnect with the knowledge and awareness of breathing’s potential and healing power. We are starting to understand how central and important breathing is for both our physical and spiritual well-being.
