Breathing while exercising

I begin to feel that I have mastered a physical exercise once it’s clear to me how to breathe from start to finish. In any case, parallel execution of movement and conscious breathing requires practice.

Being aware of my breathing while exercising has many advantages, but if I need to ‘look for my breath and find it,’ the exercise’s effectiveness is reduced.

Breathing with and against the movement

With

Typically, breathing with the movement means that:

• I tend to exhale when closing, twisting, bending, or folding toward my body.
• I tend to inhale when opening, untwisting, erecting, or unfolding away from my body.

Against

Breathing against the movement is when I do the exact opposite of breathing ‘with the movement.’ It also has merits; it stretches and pulls the lungs. This ‘anti-motion’ is an essential part of various breathing practices. Some physical exercises have a completely different effect on me, depending on whether I’m breathing with or against the movement.

A long exhalation with the movement, while assuming a posture, allows me to ‘melt’ into the pose. But I pay attention not to ‘over-melt’ to the point of pain. After ‘melting,’ when my lungs are fairly empty, I ‘expand’ into the posture as I start inhaling. The melting and subsequent expansion cause an incremental stretch, improving body elasticity. That’s a good way to gradually and safely improve my range of motion.