As a practicing yogi and “mindful athlete,” I’ve learned that conscious awareness to the breath and ultimately sense perceptions is the foundation of deepening experience. In the case of jiu-jitsu, it’s easy to get lost in the “eye of the hurricane,” as preeminent sport mindfulness teacher George Mumford explains it.

What Does Breath Awareness Do?

Meditation and breath awareness helps you to see the hurricane from an objective point of view, allowing you to act and react in a coordinated, calm fashion. These breath protocols are designed to help induce the relaxation response so that throughout your day or during your training you can be outside the storm, deepening and enriching your training and life.

3: 12: 6







7: 7: 7

Wim Hof

Length of Time

For any of the first two breath protocols, the minimum amount of time you should be practicing is two minutes. That’s the time I’ve found to be the minimum effective dose. Scientific research shows that six quality deep breaths make significant changes to the physiology, and this amount of time roughly correlates to two minutes.

For the Wim Hof protocol, I advocate at least doing two rounds at a time but for supreme benefit, do 3 to 5 in a sitting.

Tips on Breathing Exercises

More than anything, cueing proper breath mechanics should be your number-one goal. On your inhale breath, your lower belly should push out, while on the exhale, it should come back in towards your spine. Remember to breathe through your nose as this helps to induce the relaxation response, too. You can also take a look at this CBD body lotion that can help alleviate muscular pain and work with your anxiety and stress.

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Upper chest and shoulders should stay relatively relaxed. Tension here equates to stress, which is what we don’t want!

Focus on the positive sensations while doing these exercises. Breath awareness and breathing exercises can sometimes make you feel panicky. It’s better to view each breath as a positive, relaxing activity for your body and nervous system, for this intention will literally become present with each breath.



Final Considerations

Making the breath the foundation of your practice may be an odd idea. By simply having breath awareness from doing these exercises and then carrying them over into the rest of the day, you will find more tangible benefit than probably any physical exercise. Apply these throughout your day and feel that relaxation response kick in, making your life more fun from top to bottom!

I cover more performance training tidbits at mobillitytraining.com that will help you prepare, recover, and perform better on the mats!