Circular Breathing Exercise For Sleep

Wednesday 09 January, 2013. Can't get to sleep? Rhythmic circular breathing is useful for those of you who find it difficult to switch your mind off the problems of the day. Try this exercise... Your mind becomes anchored to the rhythm of your breath instead of to the problems of the day and the natural sleep cycle is encouraged to take over.

How To Do Rhythmic Circular Breathing

Make yourself comfortable in the position in which you want to sleep. Close your eyes and settle down for sleep. Now breathe deeply and gently in the same way that you would fordiaphragmatic breathing. Feel the breath filling up slowly from the diaphragm through the chest to your mouth, then, as you breath out, imagine yourself blowing the breath out of your mouth, round in a circle back through an imaginary hole in your tummy to the diaphragm.

Then start all over again! Up from the diaphragm, out of the mouth, and round down to your diaphragm. Take the rhythm fairly slowly.

Now that you understand the principle, Try It! ... Breath in from the diaphragm slowly through the chest to the mouth, counting to four and blow it out back to the diaphragm in another count of four... Pick your most comfortable, fairly slow, rhythm... The most important part of this is the full involvement of the mind in the in the circular breathing process.

Keep a mental picture of the circle in your mind and follow it around at all times, making sure that your mind concentrates on and thinks only of this circular breathing rhythm... Then, because there is nothing more interesting going on, I promise you, you will fall asleep. I use this method to get to sleep and usually it only takes aboutten circles before I drift off... You will find that your eyes will automatically follow the circle from the mouth out and back to the diaphragm. And this is the whole point, to keep your mind involved! If you wake during the night, use this method to get back to sleep.

Circular Breathing
Circular breathing is the ability to maintain a sound for long periods of time by filling your cheeks with air when you start to run low on the air in your lungs. It differs from connected breathing or conscious connected breathing, that is used in transformational breath work sessions for emotional release/catharsis and altered states of consciousness. When you circular breathe you use the air in your cheeks to power whatever soundgenerating source you have, you inhale through your nose and at least partially fill up your lungs with air to maintain a constant sound. Wind instrument players use it such as saxophone, trumpet, and didgeridoo. Its an ancient art. Glassblowers used a very similar method for centuries; they couldnt stop and inhale, so they used air from their cheeks to keep the glass bubble at a constant pressure while they inhaled through the nose. Its a really strange feeling, inhaling while youre exhaling. Youre not really exhaling, youre using the air in your cheeks, but the biggest obstacle is just achieving the feel of what it takes to inhale while youre forcing air out. You almost have to divorce the front of your mouth from the back of your mouth. Once you get the feeling, its actually quite easy to do. I read about a man who was very effective in teaching young students to circular breathe. He told them to puff their cheeks and maintain their sound. While they were puffing their cheeks he would yell, Inhale now! and he would squeeze their cheeks with his hand in order to force the air out while they were inhaling. So there are a number of ways to get that feeling initially, but thats the biggest hurdle to overcome. The other is that its a different set of muscles youre using to maintain the sound, and you find that you have to

fine-tune those muscles. To begin with, you really have to understand the four distinct steps of circular breathing: 1. As your lungs begin to lose air, you puff your cheeks.

2. Air from the cheeks is pushed with the cheek muscles through the instrument and used to maintain the sound while you inhale through your nose. 3. 4. As sufficient air is brought in, you begin exhaling through the lungs again. The cheeks are brought back to their normal position.

You have to understand that this isnt something that happens right away. What I find particularly with older students is that they want it to develop immediately because theyre quite advanced in other areas. But the reality is that it takes awhile for all that to develop, just like it took awhile for them to learn to play at the beginning. Try this exercise: 1. Puff your cheeks out an breathe normally in and out through your nose.

2. Do the same thing again but create a very small hole in your lips. As you breathe in and out through your nose, allow the air to escape through your lips. The first time it all goes out at once. Then you learn to hold back and let it escape a little bit at a time. 3. Get a straw and squeeze it almost all the way shut. While your cheeks are puffed, work the straw into your mouth and put the other end in a glass of water. While inhaling in and out of your nose like before, see if you can get bubbles to come out of the end of the straw in the water. The reason for squeezing the straw is that the first time you inhale through your nose the natural thing is to inhale through your mouth, and this way youre not going to drown. 4. As youre breathing in and out through your nose, once you get a big breath, force yourself to exhale through your mouth, and thats circular breathing. Fundamentally, youre doing it at this point. 5. Actually get involved with your instrument as soon as possible. A lot of people end up being able to do it with a straw but they cant do it any other way because theyve neglected to spend the time doing it with the instrument in their mouth. The whole notion of having something going on besides just blowing bubbles through a McDonalds straw really does stop a lot of people.

Theres always a little bump when you switch from the air in your cheeks back to the air in your lungs. Everybody wants to get rid of it, but theres always going to be a slight hitch or bump. Always. What you need to do is find exercises that will help mask the bump as much as possible. What I have read about is that with most students is that the bump isnt noticeable if youre wiggling your fingers or doing some kind of technical

pattern while youre going through the circular breathing. And the concentration for listeners will be on the notes being changed as opposed to the variation in sound. One has to practice circular breathing every day. Just include it as part of your warm-up. Its something you have to do on a daily basis, otherwise it just doesnt develop. What does it have to do with natural breathing? It may strengthen the diaphragm somewhat but other then that, not much. The primary key to breathing is the size of the diaphragm. not the strength. Recent comment from a Saxophone player.
I view circular breathing as a circus trick, quite divorced from the art of wind instruments. In my view, the most profound thing about wind instruments is how they give the listener a deep tour of the emotional life of the artist, through a raw and completely naked revelation of the artist's breathing: diaphragm, posture, ribs...and every little emotional nuance along each millimeter of the exhale and inhale. Circular breathing completely circumvents this connection between listener and artist's emotional/breathing life, allowing the listener into the artist's body only as deep as the cheeks....a very superficial tour of the artist's inner life. Furthermore, the artist's muse (his "inner composer") is highly sensitive to the freedoms and limitations of the artist's breathing mechanism....and will "serve up" musical phrases to the artist in accordance with these freedoms and limitations. In other words, if the artist has a profoundly coordinated and supple breathing mechanism, the artist's muse will create phrases to take advantage of this. This connection is automatic, and out of the artist's control. Therefore, in my view, an artist who disconnects their wind instrument playing from their diaphragm, by circular breathing and consequently providing air only from the cheeks, will inadvertently signal the inner muse to provide phrases limited to revealing the limited expressiveness of cheek breathing. I should add that great wind art reveals the entire "story" of each exhale, with the shifting emotions and sensations that correspond with each fraction of the exhale....e.g., there is a very different emotional feeling to the beginning of the exhale than there is to the end of the exhale. Always. Circular breathing is designed to circumvent that "story"...a strategy that I personally have no interest in participating in as an artist nor as a listener. While I can't prove any of the above, I note that _none_ of the great jazz artists employed circular breathing. Not one. In short: circular breathing is based on the incorrect belief that the age-old "story of the exhale" (a story that has moved the human spirit deeply for millions of years) has run it's course, and is now an artistic limitation....i.e., that great wind art is defined by the duration of the exhale, rather than how naked and alive the exhale is. -Paul A.

From Mike: What about Dizzy Gillespie with his huge jowls? From Paul: ...it's difficult to discuss him with others rationally, because he's taken on mythical proportions. However, in my view and to my ears, and this is a view that contradicts popular wisdom, Dizzy's main fault is indeed his cheek breathing, and the depth of his sound and "exhale story" suffer tremendously because of it. Paul A. From Mike: Any thoughts on that. There is a little quickie breath involving the lower breath that singers can develop that is hardly noticeable. From Paul: I don't have a clear theory about that. Again, what I wrote to you is off the top of my head. But I gather that the "quickie breath" feeds a little more air to the diaphragm mechanism in a moment of need. That's entirely different than the circular breath, which feeds air to the cheek breathing, a hopelessly superficial and emotionally disconnected breathing style, regardless of whether the fuel for it comes in big inhales or in quickie breaths.. From Mike: Does Dizzy have a rep for slightly longer passages? From Paul: Considering my background, I should know the answer to that, but I don't. But even if he does have such a rep, I wouldn't count on it being deserved. One should not lose sight of the fact that the true diaphragm breathers achieved _remarkably_ long phrases, but all perfectly shaped to tell a profound emotional story. In other words, circular breathing may attract a "fast food" crowd of students that doesn't want to do what it would take (both mechanically and characterologically) to truly expand the breath. And more importantly, there may be some confusion over priorities....do the great diaphragm breathers have the capability of playing tremendously long phrases because they got connected with the suppleness of their breath, or vice versa? I suspect the former, that "long exhale" is a side-effect (not a cause) of great and alive exhaling...but I'll bet many of the circular breathers would guess the latter and believe that if one can lengthen the breath, that a side-effect of that would be great art. Paul A. Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Kenny G. are also purported to do

Conscious Connected Breathing

NOTE: This article can also be found as Part XIV: Physical Tools to Banish Stress, from the extended article Living a Stress-Free Life, also on this site.

Stress is found in your body in the form of muscular "tension." I have mentioned that many adults grow up "armored," resulting in habitually tense muscle groups in their bodies. Sooner or later these areas will become distressed (damaged). Due to withdrawn attention those areas become "life-force-neglected." This means that those areas will not get the movement, circulation, and relaxation necessary for healthy functioning. This will eventually result in impairment usually serious enough to cause painful, permanent, or even terminal damage. Several tools are highly effective in remedying this situation all of which are preferable to using constant tension as a technique! There is NONE BETTER than Conscious Connected Breathing, taught to me in person by the master breather himself, Jim Leonard.*

Conscious Connected Breathing

One of the primary signs of life is whether you are breathing or not. Breath is more significant to your life than water, sunlight, or food. If you need proof, ask yourself this question: "Of breath, water, sunlight, or food, which am I willing to go an hour without?" Breathing has another significant function: It is a physically obvious barometer read by your subconscious mind in an ongoing evaluation of your current life situation. When we feel threatened we hold our breath or breathe shallowly. (Notice the way you breathe the next time you are balancing your checkbook!) On the other hand, when we feel at peace, such as watching a beautiful sunset or experiencing "afterglow," we breathe fully and slowly. Breathing is also unique in that it is a bodily function that can be done consciously or unconsciously. Years can go by without your deliberately controlling your breathing and still survive even if you sleep or faint or are knocked out. But you can also make a conscious choice to change your breathing pattern to benefit you. We just never knew there was a benefit to deliberately altering our breathing patterns! Since your autonomic nervous system reads your "body language" especially your mode of breathing to see if there is cause for alarm (and a subsequent fight or flight response) it is in your best interests to breathe slowly and fully as often as you can remember to do so. This type of breathing sends a physiological message of serenity to your muscles, circulatory system, and glands (even if you are in a stressful situation). Most of us, however, have grown up doing shallow and disconnected breathing constantly sending a message of panic to the blind autonomic system resulting in unnecessary distress upon our systems.

Learn to breathe like a baby-at-peace naturally does. It is one of the most powerful forms of instant stress management in the world and you always have it at your disposal (unless you are face down in the tub without a snorkel!). There are two simple and powerful guidelines for breathing to your maximum benefit:

Connect the inhale and exhale at both ends, i.e., keep the breathing totally circular. Relax the exhale, i.e., refrain from controlling the exhale with your stomach, chest, throat or lips. Just let the air come out of its own accord.

Practice this right now with your eyes closed for five straight minutes. Notice after about thirty seconds (when you begin to feel good) how your mind wants you to get busy with something else! This is an example of how we like to rain on our own parade!

Conscious Connected Breathing Guidelines

A. You may become dizzy the first few times you do Conscious Connected Breathing, so don't
take in quite so much air if it gets uncomfortable. If you like being dizzy, breathe deeper! (This is why, until you get used to it, you shouldn't operate heavy machinery while doing CCB.) B. Do CCB whenever you think of it. It is especially helpful in times of tension: getting a speeding ticket; before a job interview; facing your boss; arguing with your (or anybody else's) spouse; waiting at a railroad crossing or in line when you are in a hurry; and, worrying about anything else in the universe. C. CCB is a great way to return to dreamland if you wake up in the middle of the night and restlessly cannot go back to sleep by the usual means of pounding your pillow and screaming inside your head, "I've got to get some sleep!" Even if CCB doesn't always restore you to sleep, you will be so relaxed you won't care. D. CCB is a great way to start your day. Get up 5 minutes earlier than usual, sit up so you don't go back to sleep, and do it (CCB). Notice the difference in your morning! E. Slow and full breathing is the most peaceful. If you are afraid or angry and cannot seem to get a lot of air, at least keep your breathing connected until you can breathe more deeply.
NOTE: Now that you know how to breathe correctly, take the Doctor Zest Stress Test. It will help you to a) assess where you are today with regard to stressors; and, b) to see clearly the connection between unresolved stress and physical illness. Here is a great chance to take the CCB Challenge: read slowly through the list of stressors while continuing to breathe correctly (the CCB Way). Eventually you should be able to do this all the time, no matter what you are doing?

F. It is very important to follow the two guidelines. You will get better with practice, so do it
often.

* Jim Leonard passed away last year.** There was no finer brain pioneer, no finer humanitarian totally dedicated to removing the ultimate source of pain: Resistance, than Jim. Find one of the most powerful books ever written, VIVATION The Skill of Happiness online. After you read it, practice it, use it, you will say to yourself, "I cannot even imagine a better way to spend $15!" VIVATION works! What have I got to gain lying to you? It has changed my life in so many ways that if I told you, you would say, "No way!" Yes. Way. Get it. Read it. Use it. Game of controlling the happiness in your life: Won! ** Damn, we miss you, Buddy. What I wouldn't give to hear that giggle and see that impish smile of yours.