May is Mental Health Awareness month and I will be publishing content that focuses on mental health topics. To read past posts, click on the Mental Health tab under the Dimensions of Wellness Menu.
Breath, and the biofeedback potential it holds, can have huge effects on Mental Health. I have made no secret around here that I love breath practices for helping calm down, relieve stress, and manage anxiety. While just observing your breath can have positive benefits, there are also a bevy of simple techniques you can employ too. Today, I’d like to teach you how to column breathe.
Column breathing is so named because you bring your focus to your spinal column. Sounds funny for a breath technique, right? I thought so too, at first. But this technique utilizes visualization in a really cool way, and you need to picture your spinal column for that.
Start as you would any other breath or meditation practice: find a comfortable position and take a minute or two to bring your attention to your breath. You don’t need to worry about doing anything with your breath at this point, just notice it. And how it feels to various body parts (i.e. lungs, nose, mouth) as the air moves in and out.
Bring your focus to your spine, specifically the base between your hips. On your next inhale, imagine that as the air flows into your body, it also fills your spinal column. Imagine that it ticks up each vertebrae, almost like walking up a flight of stairs. As you exhale, reverse the imagery. Pretend that the air slowly recedes down through your spine, again, hitting each vertebrae on its way.
Continue breathing and practicing for a few minutes. Once you are comfortable with the flow of breath in and out and up and down, you can add to the imagery. As you inhale and the breath flows up your spine, imagine that it energizes your body. As the breath and energy climb your spine, send that energy out to your extremities.
You can go the other way with this exercise if relaxation and calm is what you feel like you need. As you exhale and the breath flows down and out, imagine that it carries any stress or tension away too. The relaxation imagery works even better if you draw out the exhale length.
After a few minutes with whatever imagery goal you set, you can take a final deep breath and come back to your present. Column breathing is a simple and effective technique for either energizing or calming your body. If you’d like some guidance while you practice, I’ve got a guided version for you!
Let me know in the comments if you try this technique and until next time, be well friends!
