“The breath is the bridge,” a timeless quote that resonates deeply with those seeking to embark on a journey of self-discovery and personal growth. As I reflect on the teachings of my mentor, I realize that the breath serves as the starting point for cultivating discipline, understanding, and unleashing our true potential. Our breath is intricately linked to the autonomic nervous system, which governs various bodily functions, including respiration, heart rate, and our fight-or-flight response. Through the practice of the Full Cycle Breath, we can gain control over this system, opening doors to improved performance, emotional control, and heightened self-awareness. In this article, we will explore the transformative power of the Full Cycle Breath and its practical applications in daily life.
The Full Cycle Breath: A Gateway to Emotional Release and Control: Imagine returning home after a long, stressful day at work, seeking solace in the familiar comfort of your couch. As you finally sink into its embrace, you instinctively release a deep exhale, feeling tension dissolve from your body. This conscious act of breathing holds the key to not only physical relaxation but also emotional release. Through the intelligent practice of the Full Cycle Breath, we can enhance our ability to release tension and emotional energy, enabling us to navigate challenging situations with grace and composure.
Recognizing Emotional Spikes and Cultivating Awareness: In our journey to becoming warriors of emotional control, we encounter numerous triggers that provoke emotional spikes. Whether it’s an aggressive driver on the road or a challenging partner during training, these situations provide us with an opportunity to develop emotional resilience. The crucial aspect lies in recognizing the onset of emotional spikes and addressing them before they spiral out of control. This heightened sense of awareness is closely tied to our state of mind and can be nurtured through the practice of the Full Cycle Breath.
The Technique of the Full Cycle Breath: One of the fundamental breaths that I introduce in our breath programs is the Full Cycle Breath. By focusing on filling the lower belly first, we avoid the common tendency to raise the chest prematurely. Visualize inhaling slowly through the nose, directing the breath to expand the abdomen, creating a sense of fullness and expansion. As the breath continues, the chest naturally rises, akin to filling a glass with water from the bottom to the top. Exhale gently through the mouth, allowing the chest to fall first, followed by the belly, while engaging the abdominal muscles to empty the lungs completely.
The Full Cycle Breath
Find a chair that you can sit in that will allow your thighs to be close to horizontal to the floor. Sit on the front edge of the seat. You can imagine that you’re going to sit on the tailbone and not the glutes.
Place your hands comfortably on your knees or thighs. They should be in a position where they can relax and be loose. Once you are in this position, imagine you have a string attached to the top of your head, not quite dead center, but about an inch back. Imagine the string pulling upward, lifting and straightening your spine. Tuck your chin back slightly. You may also need to pull your shoulders back slightly to adjust your posture.
In this position, it will feel like you are balanced on the tailbone with the spine straight, the head up, and the bone structure supporting everything.
With your imagination, mentally scan the body from the top of the head down to the feet. As you pass through each area, relax and release each part. The goal is to release any residual tension that you may be unaware of so that it doesn’t influence the breathing pattern. After you have done this, you can start a full cycle of breath.
You will take your first inhalation through the nose. You should feel the breath start to fill the lower abdomen and torso first. The chest will not move during this part of the process, and it may feel like you are pushing the breath into the lower stomach. The abdomen will protrude outward as your thoracic diaphragm moves downward, making space for the lungs.
This movement will feel like a balloon expanding in your abdomen. As it approaches the point where the abdomen is full of breath, you will next feel your solar plexus expand. The expansion of the abdomen and the lungs in the chest will cause the chest to rise. What you want to avoid is lifting the chest yourself. Let the expansion of the breath in the torso lift the chest. Once it starts to rise, you can pull the shoulders back and open up the front of the chest. Your goal is to feel the breath expand from the bottom of the torso all the way up to the clavicle area of the shoulders.
At the top of this breath, you will have a slight pause. The pause may be anywhere from a second to three seconds, and then you will start your exhalation. Let the exhalation pass out through the mouth naturally, and don’t force it. The chest will drop, and you will slowly return to your original position. When all of the breath has exited the body, pull the abdomen in slightly toward your spine. This will bring the thoracic diaphragm upwards toward the lungs.
When you do this, you may notice a little bit of air will exit. This is not a hard flexion of the abdomen, just a slight pull in order to completely empty the lungs. The timing of the inhalation could be anywhere from 5 to 7 seconds. The hold at the top of the inhalation will be 2 to 3 seconds. The exhalation will be another 5 to 7 seconds. The amount of time you spend on each part of the cycle should be comfortable for you.
Some of the things you may experience when doing this breath include dizziness or tingling in the extremities. This should not be too severe and if it is, stop doing the breathing exercise. You may need to begin by practicing just three or four breaths in the beginning. Sometimes different individuals take longer to adjust to the higher levels of oxygen in the body. This is not uncommon. You may start with three inhalations on your first day and then add an extra one every day or two. There is no rush. Consider it a life change that you will benefit from for many years to come.
This breath will introduce the basic motions of the breathing cycle. Parts of this can be used individually. And parts of the cycle can be emphasized more than others. The timing of the breathing cycle is adjustable. All of these parameters can be changed to get different effects depending on what you want to achieve.
Training for Resilience: In the beginning, it is beneficial to practice the Full Cycle Breath in a controlled environment, where we can explore the full range of motion and capacity. However, real-life situations often impose stress and constraints that may limit our ability to achieve a complete breath cycle. Yet, with dedicated practice over time, we can expand our breath’s range even amidst challenges, enabling us to harness its power when it matters most.
Embracing the Full Cycle Breath as a Warrior’s Tool: As we delve deeper into the practice of the Full Cycle Breath, we realize its potential as a tool for personal transformation. The Full Cycle Breath serves as a foundation, empowering us to tap into our inner strength, embrace challenges with composure, and navigate life’s complexities with a heightened sense of self-awareness. By incorporating this breathwork into our daily routines, we cultivate discipline, enhance our focus, and develop resilience—essential attributes of the warrior’s path.
The Full Cycle Breath serves as the alphabet of breath training, laying the groundwork for a broader exploration of breathwork techniques. Once you have mastered the fundamentals of the Full Cycle Breath, you possess a versatile toolset that can be applied to various situations and goals. Building upon this foundation, you can progress to develop tailored breathing patterns to suit specific objectives. By understanding the mechanics and principles behind the Full Cycle Breath, you gain the knowledge and confidence to experiment with different breathwork techniques, such as paced breathing, box breathing, or alternate nostril breathing. This expansion of your breath training repertoire opens up new avenues for achieving diverse outcomes, whether it be cultivating focus and concentration, managing stress and anxiety, or promoting relaxation and rejuvenation.
In the quest to unlock our true potential, we discover that breath holds the key to unleashing our inner warrior. Through the practice of the Full Cycle Breath, we gain control over our autonomic nervous system, fostering emotional release, and honing our ability to navigate stressful situations.
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