A simple breathing trick can change your life

Hi,

I am 38 and started simple 5min meditation sessions through controlled breathing around 6 months ago just to "see what comes out of it".

I can't say it solved anything and I didn't start this in the middle of some personal crisis, in my opinion.

Still, I kept doing it and after a few sessions, I started reaching a state of mind that I enjoyed enough to keep repeating the exercise. Now I enjoy longer sessions (~10 minutes), either in the morning, or sometimes in the middle of the day while hidden somewhere secret at my office.

I wouldn't tell you to do it because "it will be awesome". Still, I thought it as a life experiences worth giving it a try, and I might actually enjoy it while not losing much.

I started simply: I put any device around me into silent mode, I set up a timer for 5 minutes on my wristwatch, then sit on the floor comfortably. I close my eyes and begin breathing just a little bit slower and deeper than I'd usually do. Here comes the challenge: I try to focus my attention on my respiration and to keep anything else out. You would be amazed at how many times your brain literally, and relentlessly, tries to focus your attention on anything else but your respiration. At the beginning, 5 minutes felt so long that I would even open my eyes to check whether I had actually started the timer...

Yes. There is no magic to it of course; just a different type of "exercise". If you do it regularly, you see benefits else you revert back. There has been a lot of research on how "Breath" affects our "Parasympathetic Nervous System" through the "Vagus Nerve" (eg. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6189422/).

For my own practice, i only do two exercises (~10 mins) and see an immediate positive benefit in my mind state; i become energetic, alert and calm.

1) Bhastrika breathing - Rapid "bellows like" breathing; expand abdomen while inhaling and pull-in abdomen while exhaling. Oxygenates your body and raises energy levels. Start with a set of ten in the beginning.

2) Nadi-shuddhi/Kapalabhati breathing - Close right nostril with thumb and inhale gently through left nostril expanding the abdomen. Once full breath has been taken, close left nostril with little and ring finger, remove thumb to open right nostril and breath out slowly, evenly and gently through the right nostril while pulling in the abdomen. Do not hold the breath anytime in between. The ratio of time taken for Inhalation:Exhalation should be 1:2 (or more). Now repeat the above from right to left. This constitutes one round. Start with a set of ten in the beginning. This stimulates the Vagus Nerve and influences the Parasympathetic Nervous System.

Breathing slowly and deeply with your diaphragm reduces stress and improves cognitive function.

Easy to do any time and highly recommended for gnarly debugging and complex coding sessions :)

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/201...