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Conscious breathing is an umbrella term for methods that direct awareness to the
breath Breathing (or ventilation) is the process of moving air into and from the lungs to facilitate gas exchange with the internal environment, mostly to flush out carbon dioxide and bring in oxygen. All aerobic creatures need oxygen for cell ...
. These methods may have the goal of improving breathing, or the primary goal can be to build mindfulness. Human respiration is controlled consciously or unconsciously.


Training methods

*
Pranayama Pranayama is the yogic practice of focusing on breath. In Sanskrit, '' prana'' means "vital life force", and ''yama'' means to gain control. In yoga, breath is associated with ''prana'', thus, pranayama is a means to elevate the '' prana'' ''sh ...
is part of the
Yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consci ...
tradition and mainly deals with exercises, such as prolonging in- and outbreaths, holding pauses on the in- or outbreath or both, alternate nostril breathing, or breathing with the glottis slightly engaged etc. *The
Buteyko method The Buteyko method or Buteyko Breathing Technique is a form of complementary or alternative physical therapy that proposes the use of breathing exercises primarily as a treatment for asthma and other respiratory conditions. Buteyko asserts tha ...
focuses on nasal breathing, relaxation and reduced breathing. These techniques provide the lungs with more NO and thus dilate the airways and should prevent the excessive exhalation of and thus improve oxygen metabolism. *Coherent Breathing is a method that involves breathing at the rate of five breaths per minute with equal periods of inhalation and exhalation and conscious relaxation of anatomical zones.


Applications


Meditation

Conscious breathing in meditation usually does not change the depth or rhythm of breathing, but uses breathing as an anchor for concentration and awareness. Mindfulness and Awareness Trainings use conscious breathing for training awareness and body consciousness. Vipassana Meditation focuses on breathing in and around the nose to calm the mind ( anapanasati).


Psychology and psycho-therapy

Many breathwork methods claim that breathing can be used to access nonverbal memories. Rebirthing uses conscious breathing to purge repressed birth memories and traumatic childhood memories. Holotropic Breathing was developed by Stanislav Grof and uses deepened breathing to allow access to non-ordinary states of consciousness. Transformational Breath uses a full relaxed breath that originates in the lower abdomen and repeats inhalation and exhalation without pausing. It integrates other healing modalities and breath analysis. A key feature is intensive personal coaching and the use of 'bodymapping' (
acupressure Acupressure is an alternative medicine technique often used in conjunction with acupuncture or reflexology. It is based on the concept of life energy, which flows through "meridians" in the body. In treatment, physical pressure is applied to acu ...
points). Integrative Breathing combines specific benefits of various schools of conscious breathing according to the needs of clients. Research considers drug abuse disorders, post traumatic stress disorder,
alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomi ...
and smoking.


See also

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Control of ventilation The control of ventilation refers to the physiological mechanisms involved in the control of breathing, which is the movement of air into and out of the lungs. Ventilation facilitates respiration. Respiration refers to the utilization of oxygen and ...


References

{{Meditation Respiration Meditation Alternative medicine