As there are more than one way to practice music, there is more than one way to practice breathing. First one can ask, what is the point of practicing breathing? Many people assume that breathing is something we do naturally. That is true, but naturally, does not mean that we breath beautifully under all circumstances. Music is also natural but sometimes requires practice. The purposes of breathing exercise could be multiple:
Calming our mind, by providing more oxygen
Calming the hormone and chemical system: When cells are busy breathing, they do not have time for other chemistry
Falling asleep
Waking Up
Energizing our body
Venting our lungs
The biggest mistake people do when practicing breathing is to constrict muscles during inhale. The inhale should be effortless- the point is that to inhale maximal amount of air we need to allow to expand muscles, not to contract them.
Watch the pendulum swinging below. (Curtesy of Lucas Vieira)
Base exercise: Two swings (one full cycle) on exhale and one swing on inhale.
The beginning of exhale (first swing) should be slow and relatively effortless. The second swing should be more of a push in from the stomach. The inhale should be relaxing- it is important to find the point of stillness after the inhale when the pendulum almost stops at the top.
More advanced exercise: Try to elongate the stillness phase after the inhale- do not make it feel like you are holding or hoarding breath. Make it feel like a brief moment of sleep – light weightiness when pendulum is at the top- gradually extend the period of stillness to full down swing of the pendulum
Inhale (1), Stillness (1), Exhale (2)