Stig Åvall Severinsen Breatheology
Stig Åvall Severinsenbreatheologythe art of conscious breathingBREATHEOLOGY ACADEMY
breatheologyBREATHEOLOGY ACADEMY
Stig Åvall Severinsenbreatheologythe art of conscious breathingPhotography by Casper Tybjerg - illustrations by Per DiemerBlueConsultBREATHEOLOGY ACADEMY
breatheology 2010 Stig Åvall SeverinsenEditors: Mark Colberg GoldsmithConstance KampfBrittany TrubridgeGraphical design and layout: Mark Colberg GoldsmithCover: Casper TybjergPhoto p. 70: Appreciation of the exhibition BodiesPhoto p. 99, 126 and 257 Morten Bjørn LarsenPhoto p. 137 Per HallumPhoto p. 138 Dan BurtonPhoto p. 174 Mallar ChakravartySet in Calibri1. .breatheology.comAll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted orreproduced or utilized in any form by any means, electronic,mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or otherwise,without written permission from the publisher.BREATHEOLOGY ACADEMY
ContentsPreface13Part IRestless breathing23A hectic everyday lifeWhat is stress?Thought controlDiet25293643Exercises55Normal breathing61Good and bad habitsWhy do we breathe?Brain control of our breath636371Exercises77Part IITrained breathing85Become healthy through yogaHolistic outlookThe advantages of yogaFrom body to mindComposure of the senses and mind8787909397Exercises111BREATHEOLOGY ACADEMY
Sustained breathing117Holding your breath on land and in waterThe natural pauseHow do you hold your breathThe noble art of breath holdingA message from yogaYour inner dolphin119119120126133140Exercises147Powerful breathing157Optimize your athletic performanceThe breath of sportThe mental breathPlenty of red blood cellsThe lungs can be expanded permanently159159166175177Exercises183Therapeutic breathing189Get well fasterA long and healthy lifeUse your nose!Asthma can be cured by trainingLung packing - a simple method to a better lifeSelf-help for diseases in the airways191191196205212218Holistic rehabilitation - a case studyExercises225239Soothing breathing245More pleasure less painPain in body and mindRelieve pain mentallyPsychosomatic painsStress release during pregnancy247247250255260Exercises271BREATHEOLOGY ACADEMY
AppendixLifesaving first aid275Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)Good advice on first aid277279Your personal training program285Index292BREATHEOLOGY ACADEMY
To Trine, who has helped me breathe and hold mybreath over the years&To Damian, who stopped breathingmuch too earlyBREATHEOLOGY ACADEMY
PrefaceUnconscious breathing“Yahweh God shaped man from the soil of the ground and blew the breath oflife into his nostrils, and man became a living being”Genesis 2:7Your life is lived between two breaths – your first inhalation and yourlast exhalation.Each day you breathe between 20,000 and 30,000 times. This amountsto roughly 10 million breaths each year and one billion breaths in a lifetime. You are probably good at breathing, but it is actually very likelythat you are not using your lungs to their full capacity. This is a shamebecause if you do not utilize every breath you are waving goodbye toextra energy in your daily life.Most people are not very conscious of how they breathe. In particular, poor breathing habits are common in modern times. When was thelast time you took a deep and slow breath and thought closely about theintimate relationship between your breath, your body and your mind?By consciously taking hold of your breathing, you have a unique opportunity to change and strengthen both your body and mind. Our incredible organism is capable of transforming itself to a degree that science has not believed possible. Thus, recent research shows us that thehuman lung is capable of increasing its size through training, and thatpositive thoughts can, in fact, affect and rejuvenate your brain. If youlearn how to improve your physical and mental capacity, your generalhealth and your chances of living a long life will improve.It may seem odd that many people are ignorant about such a naturalthing as breathing. Both animals and children breathe deeply down intotheir “stomach” and thereby utilize the lungs optimally. However, forbusy people, this is more the exception than the rule. This unfortunatefact is mainly determined by social and cultural trends due to the hustleand bustle of everyday life, which has distanced us from our body. All inall, this leads us to completely forget the calm and deep breathing wewere given at birth. Life is rushed and often we forget to listen to ourbodies.PREFACEBREATHEOLOGY ACADEMY13
Unlike, for instance, heart rhythm or digestion that only a few peoplecan control, anybody can learn to control their breathing. Naturally, thiswill not reduce the stress or the workload in your life. However, gainingmore oxygen in the organism and a more relaxed nervous system canhelp you become better at managing the pressure and unpredictabilityof life. All you have to do is remember to consider your breathing.Indeed, breathing is exactly what this book is about. I hope toinitiate you into the enormous potential that mind control and conscious breathing can bring to your life in order to manage stress andincrease your daily energy level. When your lungs become stronger,you have a better “filter” in your body, you will be able to absorb moreoxygen and gain more energy in every cell, while at the same time yourbody will be more able to more efficiently eliminate or expel metabolicwaste products.Become aware of your breathingThere are two points at which your body, and often your mind, is underextreme pressure: during “extreme” or ultimate athletic performanceand when facing a life-threatening illness. By becoming familiar with thereactions of the body in these extreme situations, you can come to understand how conscious and efficient breathing habits can contribute tomore positive energy in your everyday life.Since my childhood, I have loved water, nature and sports. Today, Ihave integrated all three of these into freediving at a professional level.Freediving is about holding your breath under water. You can achievethis most easily when you are relaxed and in control, which has alwaysfelt natural to me when I dive. I consider freediving an adventuroussport – not an extreme sport – but I readily admit that some peoplefind it extreme. Nonetheless, I have selected safe and efficient breathingtechniques influenced by freediving but modified so that anybody canuse them. As you learn conscious breathing techniques, you will find thebenefits relevant to your daily life.Since I was a child, I have spontaneously used several of the consciousbreathing techniques, and during the last ten years, I have begun to usesome techniques with more reflection—both when working towardsworld records in freediving and in my everyday life. To optimize my performance, I have practiced yoga regularly. The central goal of yoga is tocontrol your breathing to strengthen your body and gain greater peaceof mind. The knowledge of different yoga techniques is an essential toolPREFACEBREATHEOLOGY ACADEMY14
in gaining optimal efficiency of your breathing.As opposed to mind control techniques, which so to speak, work fromthe inside – from mind to body – this book deals primarily with techniques that work from the outside in by focusing on breathing – frombody to mind. It is easy to concentrate on breathing and whether youare young or old, sick or healthy, efficient breathing techniques are safeand easily exercised habits that can be used by anyone.These breathing techniques are not new but rejuvenated wisdomabout breathing from ancient practices such as yoga. For example,pranayama – a traditional aspect of yoga, is composed of two Sanskritwords. The first, prana, meaning life force, and the second, ayama,meaning control. If we understand breath in terms of life force, there isa connection between controlling your breath and controlling your lifeforce. This key concept from pranayama is one of the influences on thediscussion of body and mind as connected through efficient breathing,which is part of the basis for this book.I view life from a holistic perspective and believe that body and mindinfluence each other respectively. In the same way, I believe that peopleshould live in harmony with nature rather than dominating it. I continueto be fascinated by living organisms, and curious to know about theirdesign and function. Studying biology, which in Greek means “the science of life,” was a natural course for me to take – what can be moreinteresting than life itself? Consequently, I earned a PhD in medicine.My scientific background stems from the natural and health sciences.Therefore, during the book I refer to the benefits of breathing exercisesand breath control on body and mind – be it concerned with sports, illnesses or any other cause.Breathe efficientlyEach chapter in this book will show you how you can breathe more efficiently and the advantages you can gain through conscious changes inyour breathing habits. Since each chapter highlights different themes inrelation to breathing, these can be read individually, but it may be morerewarding to read the chapters in succession.PREFACEBREATHEOLOGY ACADEMY15
In chapter one, Restless breathing, you will be able to recognize theeffects of unconscious and uneasy breathing in everyday life. Thischapter focuses on ways in which calm and conscious breathing canprevent and control stress, and how weight can be managed throughbreathing. In addition, the influence of mind power and your diet onyour physical and mental well-being will be examined. Chapter two, Normal breathing, describes how breathing works, andhow it affects your body. When you more fully understand how yourbody and your nervous system are organized, you can more easilychange any potential bad habits. In this chapter, you will learn howyour breathing is regulated, and how you, by way of being consciousabout your breath, can activate the soothing part of your nervoussystem and increase your daily well-being and health. Chapter three, Trained breathing, provides an introduction to yoga,giving not only the historical and philosophical background on aholistic basis, but also valuable exercises that you can use to attain amore serene body and mind. Understanding how breathing bridgesthe gap between your physical and mental self, you can learn tounderstand the finer nuances of breathing – one of the central elements of yoga. In chapter four, Sustained breathing, the many advantages of breathholding will become clear. Even though you may not think about it inyour daily life, pauses in your breathing are quite natural and oftenspontaneous. In pranayama (controlled breathing) breath holdingis particularly important. When you realize how the body and mindboth change and become stronger, you will also understand howconscious breathing techniques can be applied in self-developmentand in your daily life. Chapter five, Powerful breathing, describes the many advantagesthat breath holding as well as breathing techniques, can add tosports – both for everyday exercise and elite athletes. Many of thesestem from the freediving universe, however, they are excellent foreveryday use. In addition, I describe experiments with the heart,brain and lungs, which provide scientific examples for why a greaterawareness of breathing is so important. This chapter providestechniques to improve your performance and results in your fitnessroutine.PREFACEBREATHEOLOGY ACADEMY16
Chapter six, Therapeutic breathing, pinpoints how you can boostyour health through conscious and efficient breathing. Should yoube ill, this chapter offers valuable advice as to how you can worktowards recovery and minimize your disease. Furthermore, efficientbreathing is also a potent aid for preventing illnesses. Chapter seven, Soothing breathing, describes how you can relievepain by strengthening the connection between body and mind boththrough calm and attentive breathing as well as through positivethinking, imagery and meditation. By shifting your focus to yourbreath, the pain will seem less intense and a more regular heartbeatwill soothe and nourish the body.I believe that everybody ought to have a basic knowledge of life savingfirst aid. Thus I have added a brief appendix on artificial respiration andheart massage.Once you have expanded your knowledge of breathing techniques inrelation to a particular theme, you can immediately begin with the techniques for efficient breathing. Following each chapter you can find a setof exercises that are easy to perform and at the same time efficient. Donot be fooled by their apparent simplicity. The more you practice, themore you will grow aware of the complexity of each exercise. The breathis very refined and exciting to work with because new layers of yourinner self are constantly revealed. Each time you have an “aha” experience during training, you may learn a little more about yourself – andabout other people too. This is exactly why it is so fun and fascinating towork with the connection between body and mind.If you think that it is probably necessary to perform breathing exercises or meditation for months or years before you experience markedresults, you are mistaken. From my own experience and from people Ihave taught, I know that significant changes can happen in a matter ofminutes, hours or days. A recent scientific study actually showed thatbody-mind training combining relaxation, conscious breathing, imageryand mindfulness meditation revealed measurable changes in subjectsfollowing 5 days of 20 minute daily training. The participants showedless tension, were in a better mood, had an improved immune responseas well as significantly fewer stress-related hormones in their blood. Youwill find examples of these body-mind exercises in this book and hopefully my concept of breatheology – the learning and teaching about howwe breathe – will encourage you to start your own adventurous learningexperience. If you want to expand your knowledge or see small videoPREFACEBREATHEOLOGY ACADEMY17
demonstrations of the exercises presented in this book, you can visit myinternational community – www.breatheology.com.I do not promise that you will become happier with conscious andefficient breathing, but I guarantee that you will become more cheerfuland have more energy and greater reserves in your everyday life.Enjoy!Aarhus, Denmark, August 1. 2010Stig Åvall SeverinsenPREFACEBREATHEOLOGY ACADEMY18
Part IUnconscious breathingPart I looks at how our breathing can become uneasy or stressed froma hectic everyday life. Furthermore, it examines normal unconsciousbreathing patterns and pinpoints criteria that you can use to examineyour own habits - good as well as bad ones. This is important in orderto get a deeper understanding of how your breathing works and affectsyour body and mind.This knowledge will give you an understanding from which you candevelop more conscious breathing habits, which will be thoroughly examined in part II.BREATHEOLOGY ACADEMY
BREATHEOLOGY ACADEMY
Restless breathingBREATHEOLOGY ACADEMY
A hectic everyday lifeThe daily breathYour breathing is a perfectly accurate and honest barometer for youremotions. You can feel for yourself how stress affects the ease and paceof your breathing – especially the way you inhale. If you become awareof this strained condition, you can “heal” yourself simply by taking a fewconscious breaths - soft, deep and slow. Instantly, you will discover thata deep peace settles in your mind. Conscious breathing is quite elementary and extremely efficient. Taking soft deep breaths should provideyou with an immediate sense of how you can manage the restlessnessin your body and your galloping thoughts by simply controlling yourbreath.“Live your own life, for you will die your own death!”Roman proverbThe amazing part of becoming aware of your breath is that, in time,the nervous system will become conditioned, which will make your unconscious breathing deeper, calmer and more harmonious. The point oftraining your breath is to create a stronger and more stable nervous system and thereby an advantageous method of breathing – your own newand natural breath. In this way, your natural unconscious breath will bebeneficial in everything you do - since your breath influences your bodyfrom even the finest nerve fibers to all your organs, your hormone production, and even your thoughts. In addition, during the night you willbe able to harvest the fruits of your new breath in the shape of deeperand more tranquil sleep.When I take the bus, train, airplane or stand in an elevator, I noticehow people breathe because it reveals a lot about their state of mind. Itis also interesting to observe how people breathe when they are aboutto attempt something mentally or physically challenging.The more you learn about the finer details in breathing, the more youcan learn about people by observing them from a short distance. WhenI train or coach others the first thing I look for is the depth, frequencyand variation in their general breathing pattern. Next, I examine deeperRESTLESS BREATHINGBREATHEOLOGY ACADEMY25
and finer layers of their breathing. For example, facial expressions, bodylanguage and muscular tension are important parts of the human puzzle, which come together before my eyes.Through the years, I have developed an intuitive sense that oftentargets a person’s balance between physical and mental faculties. Particularly, when I ask people to hold their breath or train them in breathholding exercises, I learn a great deal about their mental condition andcapacity. In addition, people learn much about themselves. This training is quite simple but also effective and certainly one of the best formsof self-development and self-management, simply because you cannot“cheat” others nor yourself, as it cannot be faked.Exactly for this reason, breath holding is one of the best methods tolearn relaxation and mind control, even though it can be a demandingand challenging process. I will not claim that I can see colors or aurasstreaming out of people, but I can certainly sense some kind of energy, and I can readily relate to how people are doing and sense theirthoughts, because I have been there many times myself.Body tension can also be revealed through breathing and breath holding, not only where tension is located but also how much tension a person has built up inside. Tension is often located in the shoulders, faceand neck. I usually say, “your neck has to be as soft as butter”, and itoften helps straight away.Different color nuances and complexities of the skin are also part ofmy observation because they reveal the blood circulation and oxygencontent of the blood. I regularly write down the time I believe a personcan hold his or her breath, and most of the time I am not far off. It is anamusing little game (usually for myself), but the fascinating and interesting part of it is to see how far you can move people within a short time.Tiny adjustments or corrections often yield big results, and I let my intuition and pocket philosophy have free scope. No holds are barred, so thechallenge is to find the right methods for the person in question. Thepoint is not that everybody has to become world champion freedivers,but it makes me happy when my students become “world champions”in breathing correctly, because I know how much this will be of help tothem for the rest of their lives in relation to using both body and mind.The ability to relax “on command” and overcome or completely avoidstress and the accompanied improved mental control and confidenceare gifts that help in all parts of life. I have clearly observed this whenever I have been working with elite athletes, business managers, retiredpeople, children, disabled, or people who are ill.RESTLESS BREATHINGBREATHEOLOGY ACADEMY26
“Your breathing exercises and meditation opened a
“Yahweh God shaped man from the soil of the ground and blew the breath of life into his nostrils, and man became a living being” Genesis 2:7 Your life is lived between two breaths – your first inhalation and your last exhalation. Each day you breathe between 20,000 and 30,000 times. This amounts
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