Mindful Step 2: Belly Breathing—The Natural Healing Force Within
By: Janetti Marotta, Ph.D.
Private Practice
1655 Stanford Ave.
Palo Alto, CA 94306
(650) 494-2347 info@arcfertility.com
The natural healing force in each one of us
Is the greatest force in getting well.
-Hippocrates
The stress of infertility places us on a chronic low level red alert mode. From this defensive position, we automatically need to protect ourselves, and operate from the position of me vs. them. We are deeply entrenched in conditioned breathing—short, fast chest breathing that turns on the stress response. When shocked with upsetting news or events, our first reaction is to gasp and hold our breath. We forget to breathe.
Conditioned breathing is like putting our foot on the gas pedal. Our body is revved up. Over time our bodies begin to wear out, and the toll we pay is on our physical health and emotional well-being. Natural breathing is like putting our foot on the brake pedal: our nervous system cools down, our bodies function with greater ease, and our brain operates in a peaceful state. We operate from we mode, where we feel whole and connected. We only need to re-activate our memory to return to natural breathing, and connect to our natural healing force within. Take this precious time to learn how to belly breathe.
Learning how to breathe from the abdomen is best practiced while lying on your back in bed or on the floor. Lying on your back helps relax the belly and notice if the belly rises on the inhalation, falls on the exhalation. As you're lying down, place one hand on your belly, the other hand on your chest. Now close your eyes.
Exercise 2: Imagine a balloon behind the belly button gently filling with air as you inhale, and emptying its air as you exhale. As this filling and emptying occurs, oxygen and carbon dioxide move in and out as an ocean wave comes into shore and back out again. The diaphragm is massaging the heart, lungs and abdominal organs. The lungs, chest, back, and belly are rhythmically opening and closing. Breathing becomes deeper, slower, quieter, and smoother. Bask in these moments of natural breathing. When your mind wanders, as it will naturally do, return to feeling the ballooning of the belly on the inhalation, the lowering of the belly on the exhalation, as the breath rhythmically massages the body and calms the mind.
Use this chart to determine if you are an incorrect breather:
Upper Chest Breather
—If hand on the chest rises more than hand on abdomen.
Shallow Breather
—If hand on lower ribs don't move.
Over Breather
—If exhalation is shorter than inhalation (should be slightly longer).
Breath Holder
—If feel the "catch" between the in and out breath.
Reverse Breather
—If abdomen rises on the exhalation.
Mouth Breather
—If find mouth open when breathing.
The more we try to slow and deepen the breath, the harder it is for the belly to relax and naturally expand. Paradoxically, by inviting the breath with relaxed attention the breath slows and deepens on its own, into its natural state.
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