The deal is sealed.
New York City is bringing mandatory mindful breathing classes to all public schools from pre-K to 12th grade. With all the difficulties public schools face, the focus on mindful breathing could be seen as gasping for straws.
But if you don’t take NYC’s scholastic endorsement of breath work, surely you’ll take Oprah’s. She’s offering newly formed classes in “Breathwork and Transformation.” Could Oprah be on to something?
The U.S. Navy SEALs might have the answer.
Navy SEALs’ training includes the study and practice of “tactical breathing.” These breathing techniques have been scientifically proved to calm the nervous system, promoting balance and evenness, which in turn reduces agitation and anxiety. Successfully used in military training, tactical breathing helps soldiers to make the “right decisions at the right time.”
The first steps of this Navy SEALs breathing method can be found in the text of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika of 1350. Its Sanskrit name is Dirgha Shvasam. The Sanskrit word Dirgha means “long in space or time.” Shvasam means “breath.”
If we search deeper, the importance of breath work can be found even further back to 800 BCE within the ancient texts of the Upanishads. And before this text, the actual practice of breath work had been disseminated from teacher to student for hundreds of years.
But last things first. Here’s an entrance into the Navy SEALs tactical breathing method:
Place your right hand on your belly – big exhale.
Breathe through your nose as you inhale, bringing the breath from the belly to the upper chest.
Exhale, first lowering the upper chest, then your belly.
Once comfortable with doing this several times, try extending your exhales twice as long as your inhales.
The yogis use a three-part breath step. It’s best practiced lying down with spine flat on floor and knees bent. One hand on the belly and the other on the upper chest near the clavicle. In this position you can clearly feel the movement of the breath.
Inhale through the nose in this order:
Raise belly, raise lower chest, raise upper chest.
Exhale through nose, reverse order: lower upper chest, then lower chest, then belly.
The Navy SEALs and yogi techniques improve the strength and functioning of the diaphragm muscle, an important muscle in breathing located right below the rib cage.
So there you have it. The Navy SEALs and the yogis – what a cool combo.
Cool as a sage who long ago told his son:
“Just as a bird tied by a string flies off in all directions and on not reaching any other place to stay, returns to where it is tied, in the very same way, dear boy, the mind flies off in all directions and on not reaching any other place to stay, returns to the breath. For the mind, dear boy, is tied to the breath.” – Chandogya Upanishad (6.8.2), 800 BCE
• Joan Budilovsky can be reached at editorial@kcchronicle.com or through her website at Yoyoga.com. She will be teaching a seminar in “Ancient Breath Steps” on Wednesday, Aug. 16, at the Burlington Senior Center in Burlington, Wisconsin.