When I'm running at practices, races
or just for leisure, my breathing is all over the place. My breaths are
uneven and hard to control. It's almost like I have something building up in my
chest and the only way to get rid of it is to breathe through my mouth, even
though I know you should inhale through the nose and exhale through
the mouth. I really want to focus on my breathing because I don't want it
to affect my performance and be a distraction. According to Sakyong Mipham,
"Beginning runners often tend to hold their breath or only use a portion
of their lungs... As we begin to run more, we begin to relax with the
breathing. This can be accomplished by breathing deeper. After we become
proficient runners, we realize that human body is designed to breathe. Our
lungs take up our torso and back" (Mipham 29). To help my breathing process
while running, I need to breathe more deeply so I can gain more oxygen into my
body. This will help me create steady breaths and have enough energy to
continue my run. I think my biggest problem with breathing is that
I forget to breathe while running. Although this sounds silly, it leaves
me to breathe more rapidly but not deeply. I struggle to get
oxygen when breathing fast because I am not using my entire lung
capacity. Continuously thinking about breathing will stop me from forgetting and help with balanced breathes. Better yet, breathing deeply AND rapidly will allow my lungs
to be used the way they should be and allow me to gain a better running experience.
To add on, Mipham also informed
me that the flow of oxygen and oxygenation of the blood are linked to
good health. It's important to pay attention to the breath when exhaling and
inhaling because of the benefits it creates for the mind and body. It
creates a stable mind, releases negative and stressful thoughts, and
balances emotions (Mipham 27). Breathing is clearly very important for the
body and mind to function properly. I've learned that I can use my breaths as
an advantage to keep my mind focused and stabilize my thought process during
runs. If I am breathing deeply and getting enough breaths in, I will
be able to distract myself from the pain and run with more ease to help my body
relax. Moreover, my lung capacity will increase so I will be getting more oxygen in to power my body. Knowing the process of how oxygen flows and putting it to use will help
me clear my mind from any distractions while running. Also, practicing
deep breathing even when I’m not running will improve my breathing, lung
capacity, and thought process. All in all, changing my breathing is a slight adjustment that can have a major impact on my running activities by benefitting my speed and time.
| Oxygen flow to brain |
 |
| Lung capacity |
I want to know: How has breathing
affected your performance in an activity and what things have you done to help
improve your breathing cycle?
Mipham, Sakyong. Running with the Mind of Meditation. New York, United States:
Harmony Books, 2012. Print.
Hey Roshni!
ReplyDeleteI loved reading your blog post, there was really nice and useful information in there! I really liked how you focused on "breath," in this blog because I know that it is very overlooked for many people that do a lot of running even though it is a very important aspect of any activity that involves running. In my blogs a similar type of theme is shown because a lot of the things I blog about are things that are overlooked and need to be focused more on just like you did in this one.
I was lucky and was told to focus on my breaths a while ago because I play soccer and it involves a lot of running so we go on the track and do a lot of long distance running. I know exactly what you mean when you said that your breathing was all over the place because that happens a lot with me too. It was very hard to fix that and improve it and still sometimes I end up struggling with it when I don't focus on breathing enough and that slows me down.
Breathing plays a big role in many activities and in soccer especially, I'm a center-midfielder and that position requires the most running up and down the field constantly for 90 minutes. So as the competition kept getting harder everyone needed to be more fit and we do absolutely anything to have a edge over other players in the last few minutes when everyone is tired and that's when breathing plays the biggest role from the start of the match. As I recognized that I started working on my breathing and I did something similar to what you needed to do but when I inhaled I took in a lot of oxygen and then exhaled quickly and found that worked the best to control my breathing and kept me running for the whole 90 minutes the best.
Do you enjoy long-distance running or are you more of a sprinter?
Hi Amandeep!
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the great advice on breathing while running, I'll be sure to try out your technique. I had never realized that soccer requires a lot of distance running with quick energy bolts in between. I added pictures of the oxygen/breathing cycle to help people understand how breathing works and possibly help them improve it so I'm glad it helped you!
Anyways, as a cross country and track runner, I've noticed that the breath is so important to talk about because that's what gives you all your energy. As the season goes on, we also have to become more fit to stay competitive and that's when our breathing has to be close to perfect because it can't be the thing to throw us off our A-game. Surprisingly, I enjoy long-distance running but that comes as a surprise because I never really did distance running in middle school. I used to be a hurdler and tried out cross country and fell in love with it!
Thanks for the great comment and good luck with your running, breathing, and soccer!
Hey Roshni!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this second blog post and how it went in depth on breathing and breath. For me i know breath is a huge part at dance because if you aren't breathing its holding you back. you need the oxygen to flow through your body along with the blood. We are told to always be breathing in your nose out your mouth constantly.we practice breathing quite a lot at the dance studio i know on a daily basis our teachers are always asking/saying "are you breathing? I cant hear you breathing." We know this is a sign for us to start breathing more. Breathing doesn't necessarily have to be loud for them to hear but it does help you think about it more if you hear your breathe and make rhythms and patters to help your breath be more steady. A lot of times i find myself not breathing or like unintentionally holding my breath and then i realize after i'm done with a dance i'm out of breath because i was holding it in. This is a sign to me that i need to start focusing more and paying to attention to my breath while im dancing so i have enough oxygen to perform to my best ability.Well anyways thanks for such a good blog post to read, i hope you stick with running and enjoy it!
Hi Kierra,
ReplyDeleteThank you for all the advice on breathing that I will definitely try out. I really want to try making rhythms out of my breathes and I think breathing louder will help me focus more. I also seem to be struggling with the same problem of unintentionally holding my breath in and want to fix this as soon as possible. The first step to fixing it though is probably to be self aware of your breathing and how often you're doing it. I'm trying to mentally remind myself that when I'm running, I need to check up on my breaths to make sure they're regular and steady.
It's nice how your dance coaches are reminding you to keep breathing because breathing totally energizes your entire body to keep moving! They know how important the breath is and it's good that you also know so you can keep that thought in mind when dancing to remind yourself to just keep breathing.
Hi Roshni! your post was very helpful, and I find that in dance it can be very similar. at my dance practices, after we've done a very tough aerobic routine, we're all out of breath, and just want to sit down because we're so tired. But our coaches always say to not sit but to keep moving and to keep walking around, and I think that's very important. Also, I totally understand what you mean by almost forgetting to breathe. If I'm holding a plank position, or doing an ab workout, I sometimes wont even realize i'm holding in my breath. That's made me realize how important it is while exercising to keep breathing, and keep the oxygen and blood flowing.
ReplyDelete