the
8
actions,
they
often
throw
around phrases such as, it’s become second nature to me – almost like breathing. But, little do they know,
just because breathing is habitual
doesn’t mean they’re doing it correctly.
Although the average human takes
22,000 breaths in one day, clinical psychologist and mental health and
fitness expert, Dr. Belisa Vranich,
estimates that 9.5 out of 10 people do it incorrectly.
From birth through roughly age five,
children are horizontal breathers – pulling air through their nose and
into their lungs and engaging their
diaphragm, which causes their belly to expand as they inhale and collapse
when they exhale. At some point after this, whether because of stress or the social pressures of having a flat
stomach, nearly everyone switches to vertical breathing. This type of breathing disregards the diaphragm,
relying on shallow breaths from the
chest instead.
Are you wondering if you’re a part of the 5% that breathes correctly? Place
WORDS BY GENTRY SHANNON
of
BREATHING
A R T
W
hen people talk about habitual
one hand on your chest, the other on your stomach. Inhale in for six seconds, and exhale for six, taking note of how
each hand moves. If your shoulders and the hand on your chest rise toward
your chin with the inhale and the hand
on your stomach caves in a bit, falling back toward your spine, there’s bad
news: you’re a vertical breather.
