Optimize breathing with posture is essential to improve breath quality and achieve the maximum physical and mental benefits during breathing exercises. Correct posture helps facilitate lung expansion, improving oxygenation of the body and reducing muscle tension. Additionally, maintaining proper alignment helps prevent stiffness and promotes deeper, more relaxed breathing, which is crucial for overall well-being.
Why is Posture Crucial?
Posture directly affects the lungs’ ability to expand and contract effectively. Poor posture, with slumped shoulders and a bent back, compresses the diaphragm and limits the chest’s ability to open, hindering deep and full breathing. In contrast, correct posture encourages diaphragmatic breathing, which is deep and relaxing.
Benefits of Correct Posture During Breathing
- Better Oxygenation: An upright position allows the lungs to fully expand, improving oxygen supply to tissues and promoting the removal of carbon dioxide.
- Relaxation and Stress Management: Deep, conscious breathing, facilitated by proper posture, activates the parasympathetic nervous system, reducing stress and anxiety.
- Improved Concentration: Optimal oxygen flow to the brain supports mental clarity and focus.
- Prevention of Muscle Pain: Correct posture reduces tension on muscles and joints, preventing neck and lower back pain.
How to Maintain Correct Posture
- Standing or Sitting: Keep the back straight but relaxed, shoulders down and open, with the chest slightly lifted. If practicing qigong or taijiquan, assume the Zhan Zhuang position while standing. Even when sitting, the upper body should follow the same principles.
- Chin Parallel to the Ground: Avoid bending the neck forward or backward. To assist with this position, even with eyes closed, imagine looking far into the horizon.
- Feet Firmly Planted (If Sitting): Keep the legs at a 90-degree angle, feet parallel, with the sensation that the entire soles of the feet are firmly planted on the ground. If sitting on a zafu with crossed legs, sit at the front of the zafu so the pelvis tilts slightly forward; this promotes the natural curvature of the spine and maintains a straight back without effort.
- Lying Down (Savasana): Lie on your back on a mat or a comfortable surface, legs extended with feet slightly apart, letting them naturally fall outward. Keep the arms extended along the sides of your body, slightly away from the body, with palms facing upward.
- Relax the Body: Keep muscles relaxed and free of tension naturally.
Referring to the Zhan Zhuang exercise, the two points Bai Hui (top of the head) and Hui Yin (coccyx) push in opposite directions, lengthening the spine and creating space in the abdomen for lung expansion. This applies whether standing, sitting, or lying down.
Standing, Sitting, or Lying Down?
Everyone has their preference for the position to perform breathing exercises, which can also be influenced by where they are: for example, at work, we typically practice these exercises while sitting at a desk.
The choice of position also depends on our experience with breathing exercises, as maintaining correct posture can become a distraction and compromise breathing quality (focusing more on posture than on the breath).
For beginners, lying down is the easiest position, allowing concentration solely on the flow of air in and out and the breathing movements. Later, we can transition to a seated position, initially using a chair or armchair that helps maintain a straight back and alerts us if we lose alignment (when we move away from the backrest).
Once maintaining correct posture while seated becomes natural, we can move to the zafu. Finally, if practicing qigong or taijiquan and wishing to combine deep breathing exercises with these practices, we can experiment with the standing position.
Conclusion
Paying attention to posture during breathing exercises is not a minor detail but a crucial element in optimizing the benefits of conscious breathing. Correct posture allows for better breathing, improving physical and mental health and contributing to overall well-being that extends into daily life.