Rickson Gracie Practises a yoga breathing technique

The importance of proper breathing is fundamental to life – oxygen is everything!

Learning to breathe correctly will contribute to greater available energy, calm your nervous system, help strengthen your immunity and nourish internal organs.

According to physiotherapist Paula Nassif, breathing also provides a gateway, through focus and relaxation, which allows deepening meditations and healing. Anatomically speaking, there is a balance between breathing pressures that can be disrupted by stress and fatigue. Learning to focus on your breath can reduce the effects of outside influences on your health and restore equilibrium to the inhale and the exhale, making it a smooth process that brings clarity and comfort.

We can consciously use breathing to influence the involuntary (sympathetic nervous system) that regulates blood pressure, heart rate, circulation, digestion and many other bodily functions. The breath is known as prana or a universal energy that can be used to find a balance between the body-mind, the conscious-unconscious, and the sympathetic-parasympathetic nervous system. Breathing exercises can act as a bridge into those functions of the body of which we generally do not have conscious control.

By harnessing the breath, you can take control of your body, your mind, your emotions and inner spirit for any pursuit, whether you’re a world-class athlete, a businessman, or a mom.

Breathe and Balance Your Life!

Watch the video below with Rickson Gracie practicing his famous breathing technique:

Learn from MMA fighter Frank Mir about the importance of breathing for fighters:

Rickson Gracie

Usually people breathe only puffing their chest and using only the upper part of the lungs. Doing this, you are leading the air only to the apex of the lungs without exercising the diaphragm. Therefore, the lower part of the lungs reduces the amplitude of respiratory movements and consequently diminishes our vital capacity that it is the average global capacity of a person to inhale and exhale.

In diaphragmatic breathing, or commonly known as belly breathing, when you inspire, the abdomen tracks the movement of the air inlet dilating gently; and when you expire, it contracts so slow and gently while the air outlet. Ideally, you should try to make this work using only the nose and breathing calmly. Move only your abdomen. Chest stays still.

You can use this technique to start and end your workouts and before the competitions. It is also a form of meditation because from the moment that we are always thinking about something, when you focus on your breathing, you will stop thinking about your problems. Try to observe that when the breath is calmed the mind also becomes calm, reducing anxiety, and giving you a sense of well being and relaxation.

This interestingly shows the effectiveness of this breathing technique, but only with continued practice you may notice changes in your daily lives and also in your performance on the mat by improving your physical conditioning, combating anxiety before competition and speeding up recovery both during and after training or competition. This technique will help you physically and mentally, being an important factor in health and quality of life.

By Prof. Alvaro Romano