ADRENAL BREATHING

Posted by BAZIL , Monday, April 26, 2010 12:59 AM

Proper adrenal breathing releases tension from the body and clears the mind, re-connects the body to the mind, reduces fatigue, and improves both physical and mental wellness. This is accomplished through enhancing the parasympathetic nervous system’s function. It shifts the body's basal resting mode from a sympathetic to a parasympathetic bias.

STEP-1
Lay down facing the sky (supine), with your back on a flat but comfortable surface, arms and palms facing up and slightly away from the body with legs apart at shoulder width. Loosen your cloths as needed. You can also do this in a sitting position with your spine vertical (do not arch your back because the abdominal muscles wrap around to the rear); do not cross your legs.Make a conscious effort to relax and allow the body to rest on the floor with natural gravity pull. Feel the weight of the body against the floor. Those who are weak should start this exercise in the supine position. As the body gets stronger, doing this excercise in a sitting or standing position is acceptable. If space does not permit the use of supine position during adrenal breadthing excercise, then do it in a sitting or standing position is acceptable.

STEP-2
Close your eyes. You can cover them with a small towel. Drop your tongue to its natural relaxed resting position towards the back of the mouth without obstructing air flow. It is very important to keep your spine straight, drop your shoulders and let it relax. Make sure you check yourself on that before you go any further.

STEP-3
Exhale completely through your mouth, making a small whoosh sound. Now you are ready to start.
Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to 80-90% of capacity depends on your level of competancy. Do not breathe through the mouth henceforth. Imagine that the air is going into your body through your left nostril which according to ancient tradition, is calming. Your belly should be expanding outward as you inhale comfortably. If you put your hands on your stomach, it will be pushed away from the back. This ensures that you are breathing properly. Imagine that you are filling your body with air from the bottom up. Focus your attention at the flow of air in and out of the nasal passages, in through the left and out through the right. Breathe evenly and nasally. Do not force the breath.The chest wall does not move singnificantly. The abdominal muscles have to be completely free and relax. If they are even mildly tensed you will not be doing this properly. The rest of the body is stable except for a slight backward movement of the head during inhalation. Don't forget that eyes are closed, with shoulders are dropped and relaxed thourghout.

STEP-4
Do a mental count of four slowly and comfortably (about 1-2 seconds per count).
At the end of the inhalation, spontaneously progress to exhale naturally and without effort. While inhalation can only take place as a result of muscular activity, exhalations are different. The lungs have the capacity to get smaller because their elasticity keeps pulling them, along with the rib cage, to a smaller size. Do not hold your breath intentionally at the end of inhalation or exhalation.
Exhale completely through your nose (imagine the air coming out of the right nostril) quietly and smoothly. There is no counting required on exhalation. Feel your stomach contract slowly until most (but not all) of the air is out naturally. Exhalation is normally a little longer than inhalation. Do not force, overextend, or hold after the exhalation which will activate the SNS. Simply let the body control the exhalation time and intensity naturally.

STEP-5
This is one full breath. Now inhale again and repeat the cycle seven more times for a total of eight full breaths. This is one set. A full set is therefore 8 complete full breaths and takes most people from 1-2 minutes.

ROUTINE:::::

Day 1-3 - Start by doing one set (8 breaths) twice a day. Once when you wake up before breakfast, and once at bed time right before going to sleep. The entire session should only take 1-2 minutes each time.

Day 4-6 - Increase to one set five sessions a day, on awaking, mid morning (10-11am), early afternoon (1-2pm), late afternoon (4-5pm), and at night before going to sleep.

Day 7-9 - Continue five times a day, but increase from one set to two sets each session (16 complete breaths). This should take 2-3 minutes per session.

Day 10-12 - Continue five times a day, but increase from two sets to three sets each session (24 complete breadths). This should take 3-4 minutes each session.

Day 13 onwards - If you feel up to it, continue five sessions a day, but increase from three sets to five sets each time (40 complete breaths and will take about 5-6 minutes per session). If you do not feel well with this intensity, decrease back down to three sets per session, but keep the five sessions a day unchanged.

Posted in HEALTH CAPSULEZZZ