In the German lifestyle magazine Carpe Diem,breath teacher Norbert Faller spoke with Nicole Kolisch about breathing „elastically“ in a given situation.
“Are you breathing „elastically“ in a given situation?
A few questions to something that should be a matter of course, but isn‘t.
Carpe Diem: Mr Faller, you are a breath teacher. Of course, the obvious question is, why should I learn to breathe? Can‘t I do that already?
Norbert Faller: We wouldn‘t live – none of us – if we couldn‘t. Most people who are born healthy, breathe reasonably well. But there are conditions in life that can lead to the loss of something actually quite intuitive that is self-regulated by the body. This can have many causes: monotonous movements or lack of exercise, poor posture, tension, stress, mental problems, sometimes it is also due to certain thoughts that „take our breath away“. There are also environmental influences (allergies) or smoking.
There are really many lifestyle habits today that cause breathing to change, and lead to fixed and rigid patterns that restrict the breath. So something natural that could flow by itself is lost. Breathing is not about doing something but about allowing it.
Carpe Diem: How do you breathe properly?
Norbert Faller: There is no universal “right breathing”. There is only one right breathing which corresponds to the respective person and the respective situation. This means that the breath should be as flexible as possible and adapt to the challenges and stresses of a person, as well as to the phases of rest.
The breath accompanies us – once stimulated, joyful, once calm. “Breath” is “right” when the breathing rhythm fits – that is, when it is congruent with what happens. Only when the breath can‘t calm down (as with anxiety or stress) or never comes alive (as in depression), then you have a problem.
Carpe Diem: How does the breath calm down?
Norbert Faller: When we relax, listen to music, sit on the sofa, read, a natural breath pause should occur after exhaling: We speak of a three-phase breath. When we move faster the pause is often lost, which is quite natural: because whoever is moving fast needs more oxygen. On the sofa, we need less, there should be a pause after exhaling before the next inhale. If the pause is missing, the organism doesn‘t calm down. These people then can‘t calm down most of the time, holistically speaking.
Carpe Diem: Keyword “holistic” … How is the breath connected with my overall health?
Norbet Faller: How people live affects how they breathe. Conversely, I can also improve my overall health very effectively via the breath: the physical condition, tension, my sleep, some pain, but also moods, feelings, thoughts, self-confidence …
That’s one of the reasons why it’s so interesting and effective to pay attention to the breath.
Carpe Diem: And the other reasons?
Norbert Faller: There are many. For example, there is another interaction: to perceive breath, consciousness is needed. Because when we focus on something else, we don‘t care about breathing. Paying attention to our breath promotes awareness. We become more aware of our habits and realize, “Okay, whenever I go about things like that, I hold my breath because I’m doing it with too much effort and tension. Perhaps it would be possible with less.“ Or I notice: „Ok, just now it wasn‘t possible to react with less tension” – but then at least I know some exercises that help me to come into a more balanced state.“
Carpe Diem: Do inhalation and exhalation effect this balance differently?
Inhalation stimulates the autonomic nervous system, the sympathetic nervous system. This brings me energy, stimulates me, makes me awake, arouses my zest for action and promotes concentration. All movements that are energetic stimulate inhalation. So when I need energy, I move so my breath speeds up. Or I stretch. Stretching creates space; and inhaling means becoming wide, becoming more spacious: during inhaling the chest becomes wider, negative pressure is created, and thus more air flows in. All movements that create space and encourage inhalation bring more energy.
On the other hand, when I do exercises that focus on exhaling, prolong exhalation, slow it down, this stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, the branch of the nervous system responsible for regeneration and calm.
Many breathing exercises involve both because they‘re about creating balance. But of course you can use only one type of breathing exercise on purpose very effectively.
Carpe Diem: How do I find my individual breathing rhythm?
Norbert Faller: That which should be the most simple is actually the most difficult: to pay attention to the breath without influencing it. That’s an art. Why this is so difficult can have different reasons. If we pay attention to the breath, then we have ideas about how the breath should be, we think “it should be this way or that way” … It‘s always this question for the “right” thing!
We haven’t learnt to pay attention to something and, simultaneously, letting it be as it is.
Carpe Diem: But is not already the observation of the breath a kind of influence?
Norbert Faller: Naturally. An unconscious breath flows differently than a consciously perceived breath – and again differently than a guided breath. Many techniques work with the guided breath (i.e., yoga). The breath is used to achieve something specific. Working with allowing the breath is about the individual breath of each person: the breath is not deliberately influenced, it is simply perceived how it reacts by itself and individually to various interventions. This is more sustainable than any attempts to direct the breath. Breathing and the entire anatomical supply system are so complex that we can‘t willingly consider everything! For me, breathing means allowing, letting go. If that‘s possible and the breath can flow as it is supposed to, it leads us to who we are.
Carpe Diem: Thank you!”