The more understanding we have of what happens during relaxation, the more we will appreciate the importance of our breath, which is the key to deep, peacefull, pain-reliefing relaxation. Our breath is always there, available to us with this amazing, almost magical facility. During a full relaxation session, our breathing deepens and slow down. This allows muscles to relax and blood flow to increase, nourishing all parts of our feel heavy, warm and comfortable and we may even become unaware of our body altogether. The slow, deep breathing during relaxation promotes a feeling of general well-being, it reduce our heart rate and best our bloodstream. Our mind slows down and we feel very peacefull and calm. All these effects stem from the way we breathe during relaxation.
We all tend to take our breathing for granted, not noticing anything very much about it. Many of us, especially when in pain, use an inefficient type of breathing, whereas, correctly used, our breath can become our most powerful ally, and so first of all, how are you breathing?
