Breathing
We all breathe
but not in the same way
Most people take breathing for granted but those, for whom breathing is directly related to their job or everyday life - singers, wind instrumentalists, dancers, athletes, public speakers, actors, teachers and also people suffering from breathing problems, - sooner or later realize that it is more than just oxygen intake.
Healthy breathing is the foundation of a healthy, powerful voice and strong physical and mental performance.
Throughout life, we each engage in different activities. We move differently and sit differently from each other, have different posture peculiarities and the overall level of activity. All of that contributes to our breathing habits. Nowadays, many of us live a very sedentary lifestyle - we sit while eating, while commuting to work, we sit at work, while on the computer, at meetings and while watching TV - moving only from one seat to another. It weakens the heart, but the heart rate is directly correlated with breathing. In order to keep ourselves and our breathing in good shape, we need to adapt an active lifestyle and train our muscles. Sedentary lifestyle is incompatible with good breathing habits.
Although everyone has their own unique breathing habits and therefore their own unique breathing weaknesses, a good breathing technique is a skill that can be easily learned at any age.
How do you
want to breathe?
Easier? Deeper? More powerfully?
Do You want to gain control over your breath? Do You want to gain control over Your voice? Do you want to sing better? Maybe You want to achieve more in sports? Or maybe You just want to live a healthier life? Each of us breathes differently - some stronger, some weaker, some deeper, some more shallow; some more in the belly, some in the chest; some evenly and some chaotically.
Not all of our breathing habits are good and useful, and some can be even harmful.
When breathing is
a challenge
Healthy breathing techniques are especially important for people having difficulty breathing. If your muscles are weak, they need more oxygen and you can become short of breath doing everyday tasks. Breathing muscle exercises change that because they help you to improve both your inhalation and exhalation processes.
When your muscles are stronger, daily activities are easier - strengthened breathing musculature improves your resting breathing.
Every note
counts
Good breathing skills are also a foundation for strong, deep and powerful voice. For singers, good breath support gives you the ability to produce a better tone, hold long notes, better dynamic range and breath control.
Your singing is only as good as your breathing - you cannot manage your voice if you don’t know how to manage your breath.
Every millisecond
counts
Oxygen plays a huge role in sports performance and in the recovery process as well. Athletes need to be able to breathe freely and control their breath in physically hard and challenging situations.
Both for professional athletes and anyone who does sports, breathing powerfully leads to enhanced fitness and workout tolerance, and better performance.
Prepare now,
relax later!
When we repeat an action many times, it later on becomes automatic. That can be very beneficial in stressful situations like competitions, concerts or while having a sudden difficulty breathing - in those moments we often don’t consciously think about breathing, but if we have prepared before and conditioned our muscles to react a certain way in certain situations, they will do their job even without us remembering to think about it.
Good breathing habits are conditioned reflexes
and can - and should - be learned.