A melodramatic title for a short article touching on something we do every minute of every day we're alive. This one goes out primarily to my students, who have to practice this for homework, but will also serve as a useful primer to breathing as used in the Ryabko System, but with my own take on it (as with all things).
Burst Breathing
What
Rapid, active, shallow exhales and shallow passive inhales deriving from the very top of the lungs.
When
Generally used to overcome distress and pain, such as when winded with fatigue or experiencing severe pain or other discomfort, such as after taking a particularly penetrating strike or performing a difficult exercise.
Why
Rapid active exhalations and passive inhalations appear to reset the diaphragmatic nerve, enabling relaxation of the muscles of breathing, which in turn reduces the overall state of alarm of the nervous system, restoring psychological and in turn biochemical equilibrium.
How
Activate the compression of the lungs with the muscles of breath in order to exhale, then immediately relax them while keeping the airways open, allowing the elastic recoil of the lungs to draw air in without conscious effort. It helps to practice this in a closed, silent room so you can listen to the very quiet passive inhalation. Enter into burst breathing with an exhale:inhale ratio of 1:1, then gradually increase the ratio to 2:1, 3:1 and so forth as you get more practiced. It is better to emphasise the exhalation over the inhalation as overinhaling leads to hyperventilation, which will lead to increased stress levels and even dizziness or loss of consciousness. As always, exhale through the mouth, inhale through the nose. Practice this in conjunction with intense physical exercise and note its effect on your heart rate and breathing drive - both should come down appreciably if you do this right.
Square Breathing
What
A single breath divided into four discrete phases of inhalation, breath hold with full lungs, exhalation and breath hold with empty lungs, each stretched out over the same length of time, hence the name.
When
Used as a meditative focus to calm down the nervous system (works great to slow the heart and shut off the brain for sleep), and also a training tool to stretch the body's capacity to work under (perceived) hypoxic conditions, as well as to detrain panic responses to perceived hypoxia.
Why
This pattern of breathing appears to reduce sympathetic nervous tone (fight or flight) and increase parasympathetic tone (rest and relax/feed and breed). From a conditioning point of view, with less panicked signal noise jangling in your nervous system and your heart beating slower and more efficiently, you learn to perform a given amount of mechanical work at a lower metabolic cost to yourself.
How
Enter into the pattern by sitting or lying down comfortably and counting off the seconds in your head, beginning by exhaling and holding empty lungs. Start with 1 second each phase - empty hold (1) -> inhale (1) -> full hold (1) -> exhale (1). Gradually increase the count to as high as you can manage with at most mild discomfort. Variations include pyramid breathing (increasing the count by 1 every so many breaths till you reach your limit, then decreasing by 1 every so many breaths till you come back down to 1) and combining the breathing with various forms of exercise, using repetitions of the exercise to count down the intervals (eg. pushups, steps when walking/jogging).
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