Don't Cardio, Breathio...

Juliet asks:
“How art thou out of breath when thou hast breath
To say to me that thou art out of breath?”
~ Romeo and Juliet, Act 2 Scene 5

The simple answer to Juliet’s famous question is “expiratory reserve volume.”

Juliet’s poor nurse, like many people, lives her life in the tidal volume of her breath and when challenged uses her expiratory reserve volume. Most likely, if she is a Shakespearean nurse, she has a slumping posture, a droopy heart and a collapsed rib cage. She gets through life with a small breath.

Cardio is a bad strategy for this nurse. “Cardio, Cardio, Cardio,” is the old and busted January mantra. Strengthening the heart muscle is noble, but the heart is only part of the picture. In January, many people get back to running and feel their heart beating out of their chest. We FEEL it in the heart. The pounding heart is how the limited myth of cardio began. Make the pump pump faster.

“Where you think it is, it ain’t” said the great Ida Rolf.

To be healthy, the myth goes, you have to make the heart beat faster and faster, and work harder and harder for 30 minutes everyday. Forget about the rest of the plumbing.

Physiologically speaking, the heart is only 20 - 30% of how the mitochondria (the power houses in the cells) get fed oxygen. Overall, it is a complex reality including the lungs, blood vessels, diet, metabolism, blood quality, posture, daily habits, age, past history, genetics and the quality of your mind states.

The heart and lungs are inseparable. The right side of the heart pumps blood into the lungs and the lungs then feed the left side of the heart. The left side of the heart then pumps it into 300,000 miles of blood vessels. We can chop heart and lungs apart with a scalpel, but they are one.

“Breathio, Breathio, Breathio” is the start of a bigger picture. Developing your lungs, fascia and skeleton is the yogic approach. Barring medical conditions, first passively manipulating the lungs, rib cage, spine is far easier and a kinder method for our Shakespearean nurse. Developing your breath means you are going to work with posture and alignment for many months or years and create new habits. The entire body, mind and spirit eventually become involved in taking this next breath.

The myth of deep breathing is a persistent one, even in yogic circles. There is a belief that yoga is all about deep breathing 24/7. Nope. That is still not the yogic method. We do practice near total lung capacity a couple of times a day in a daily practice. However, the deep and energizing breath practices of yoga (kapaalabhaati and bhastrikaa) are only preparations, not the central practice itself. The myth of deep breathing confuses many yoga teachers. Your breath needs to match your metabolic rate and that range is tightly controlled by the body.

The central practice of yoga is praanaayaama. A major milestone in yoga is eventually slowing the breath down to the two-breaths-per-minute range through alternating nostrils for 24 minutes. Then the breath slows down more. An ordinary person, like you and me, can do this with training and time. Anyone can do this. It is not hard to do, once you get your breathing habits in place and practice consistently. You don’t have to be smart, talented or a contortionist. You do need to be persistent.

The breath doesn’t lie. You cant use your will to accomplish this in one day. You, the person reading this right now, can build a powerful breath practice in the next year. Practice happy, build it slowly.

This Next Breath is an online breath course that will help you do this. It is lighthearted and fun too. The course is made up of videos, audio recordings and online coaching and support. You can develop the ultimate skill, the breath, at home. Find out more.