How do you breathe? How to calm down? How do you meditate? These are some of the questions that Patricia Montero, actress and yogi, is asked the most on her Instagram account.
“Daily stress is something that is present in everyone’s life, but if we do not have tools to manage it and/or calm ourselves when it reaches anxiety limits, it works against us to feel good, perform and be able to enjoy the day as we like. would like”, says. And it is in one of his practices precisely where he focuses on helping his followers “learn to breathe” with a live practice focused on the Pranayama, that is, in breathing. And particularly, it speaks of the “square breathing”also called quadrilateral breathing or Sama Vritti.
Montero defines it as a “Very powerful pranayama technique to calm stress, clear the mind, and improve relaxation and concentration.”
If the normal respiratory process consists of only two phases (inspiration or pûraka and expiration or rechaka), pranayama truly begins when the withholdings.
They explain on the Siempreyoga website that “Retentions can be full lung or empty lung” And precisely, square breathing makes use of both types. Hence its name: Sama (equal) and Vritti (phase or movement), that is, it consists of 4 breathing phases with the same duration in which the following scheme is followed: inspiration, full lung retention, expiration and empty retention.
How to practice it?
Practicing “square” breathing is very simple and requires nothing more than a few minutes of your time and a quiet place where you can relax. You don’t need yoga mats or clothes, since you can do it in any situation in your daily life in which stress blocks you: YES, you can also do it in the office chair.
To practice it, it is recommended to do it sitting in a comfortable posture or in the meditation position, with the pelvis supported on the sit bones and the spine erect. In this position, the weight of the body is distributed over the center of gravity. Keep your eyes closed and relax the features of your face.
Pay full attention to this moment. You can even, as Patricia Montero advises in practice, Draw a square with your hands while doing the 4 phases if it helps you maintain the process and not get distracted.
Another thing to keep in mind, especially when holding your breath, is keep your glottis relaxed, that is, releasing tension from the throat. If you find it difficult to hold your breath, adjust the seconds in which you feel most comfortable, breathing more or less deeply. But make sure that these times are the same in the 4 phases.
One piece of advice they give from Siempreyoga.com is that “When practicing retentions, it is always advisable, especially when starting, to inhale and exhale 3 quarters of our capacity, so that the retentions, both full and empty, are comfortable.”
And they give another piece of advice: if the square process is complicated for you, do it in rectangular version, a variant in which the retentions are shortened and the inspiration and expiration are lengthened.
Steps
1. Take several abdominal breaths to direct your attention to your breathing. Inhale, inflating your abdomen and exhale, letting all the air out.
2. When you have established abdominal breathing, start with square breathing.
– 1. Inspire in 4 times
– 2. Hold at full lung for 4 seconds
– 3. Exhale in 4 times
– 4. Hold empty lung for 4 seconds.
If your breathing capacity cannot last 4 seconds, you can do it in 2 or 3 seconds, depending on where you are most comfortable.
Where is attention kept?
Believe us, practicing breathing in a square makes all your attention go to this square, at this moment. Just by counting the seconds in each phase, you can anchor yourself in the here and now.
You can also direct your attention to the moment in which the nostrils are refreshed with each inhalation, to the heartbeat in the retentions when the lungs are full…
The benefits
Without a doubt, this practice, as simple as it is effective, brings many benefits. The most immediate: It helps calm the nervous system and reduce stress and anxiety levels. Focus on breathing and counting improves the ability to concentrate and pay attention and this relaxes us. That is, this entire sequence of “equals” facilitates a state of deep relaxation.
Hence, this practice is useful not only in moments of high tension, but also in others in which you need to slow down to be able to rest, such as before going to sleep or to start the day relaxed to cope better when you wake up.
Other physiological benefits are also obtained from this technique, such as improvement of cerebral oxygenation and progressive relaxation of the diaphragm (to undo those “lumps” in the throat).
As contraindications, we must remember that experts do not recommend doing it if you are pregnant, due to air retention or after very large meals.
The key
Without a doubt there is a fundamental key: patience and consistency. It can have an immediate effect in a moment of high tension, but practiced consistently, it reports improvements in concentration and allows you to learn, now, to count to 10 before jumping into a pool you shouldn’t.
“Square” breathing is a VERY powerful and accessible tool to manage everyday stress and anxiety without having to sign up for a yoga class. By spending just a few minutes you are improving your level of well-being on an emotional and mental level, achieving a greater sense of calm and balance.
And really, it’s worth it.
