Easy Breathing Practice with Justine Shelton, Certified Yoga Therapist

I'm probably preaching to the choir here. If you're having trouble breathing, are you going to try and really increase your inhale? Has anyone tried that? Yeah, what trying to really like, say you're like, damn it, today I'm going to increase my inhale and you just make yourself, it's a good way to have a panic attack. It's a good way to go into distress. It can trigger the lungs. The best way to strengthen the lungs, regardless of if your issue is inhale or exhale, because some people have trouble with one or the other, lengthening the exhale. That strengthens the alveoli sacs and that will help everyone. And by doing that, you could, I was lucky. I had a teacher who grew up in India and developed COPD at a very young age. So he made it, he lives here now, but he made it his life's mission to work with people with lung issues. And I happened to end up in a classroom with him. And he's very passionate about it. And to know someone who's walked that, who can say from experience, I trust everything he tells me, you know, because he's walked that path. And what he calls it, to just simplify it, smell the rose, flicker the candle. So not like it's your birthday and you're trying to blow it out, but you're just trying to flicker the candle through pursed lips to elongate the exhale. And as you do that, pulling in the belly will help compress the abdomen and help push the air out a little bit more. So let's try that for a few rounds where you're going to, we're going to pretend we have, this is a beautiful flower. You're going to inhale and smell the flower and then flicker the candle through pursed lips. And at the end of that exhale, pull your belly in a little. Then let the inhale happen. Smell that rose, flicker the candle. Can you sense that? That even, I feel a little calm down from that. So that's going to be my homework challenge for you, to smell roses and flicker candles. Just periodically throughout the day. This isn't something like you're going to do an hour of, I'm working on my breath. This is something that's your life. So you're going to take these yoga snacks throughout your day, throughout your life.