The afternoon is dragging on, the ventilation system is droning, and your attention is flagging. You need to wake up. Now.
“Bellows Breath” is a stimulating breathing exercise that can reinvigorate you and help you plow through the rest of the day.
This is a fairly loud exercise, so you might want to slip away to someplace private – or be ready to explain to your officemates what you’re up to.
- Sit or stand comfortably with your hands resting on your thighs.
- Close your mouth, and keep it gently shut throughout the exercise.
- Rapidly inhale and exhale through your nose at the rate of two or three breath cycles per second.
- Push out your abdomen as you inhale and pull it in as you exhale (as if your torso were a bellows).
- Repeat for 5-10 seconds and then gradually, as you become more comfortable with the exercise, increase the length of time in subsequent sessions.
- Repeat throughout the day as needed.
If you feel at all light-headed, stop and take a break. This can be a pretty intense exercise, so start with a just a few seconds of it and gradually increase the length of time as your body becomes acclimated to it.
Today’s Sources
I first learned this exercise from a yoga teacher and have seen several variations on it over the years. There are a lot of ideas about how to do this exercise. Here are a few online sources offering other approaches:
- Health Hint: Breathing Exercises, American Medical Student Association
- Relaxation, Breathing and Meditation, FibromyalgiaHope.com
- Bhastrika, Chopra Center
About the Author
Larry Swanson is a massage therapist in downtown Seattle, WA. His practices focuses on the unique needs of office workers and also includes injury treatment for sports and car-accident injuries as well as massage for wellness and athletic performance.