The Oxygen Advantage: The Simple, Scientifically Proven Breathing Techniques for a Healthier, Slimmer, Faster, and Fitter You

by Patrick McKeown

BOLT now: 1. Take a normal breath in through your nose and allow a normal breath out through your nose. 2. Hold your nose with your fingers to prevent air from entering your lungs. 3. Time the number of seconds until you feel the first definite desire to breathe, or the first stresses of your body urging you to breathe. These sensations may include the need to swallow or a constriction of the airways. You may also feel the first involuntary contractions of your breathing muscles in your abdomen or throat as the body gives the message to resume breathing. (Note that BOLT is not a measurement of how long you can hold your breath but simply the time it takes for your body to react to a lack of air.) 4. Release your nose, stop the timer, and breathe in through your nose. Your inhalation at the end of the breath hold should be calm. 5. Resume normal breathing.

BOLT

Nose Unblocking Exercise • Take a small, silent breath in through your nose and a small, silent breath out through your nose. • Pinch your nose with your fingers to hold your breath. • Walk as many paces as possible with your breath held. Try to build up a medium to strong air shortage, without overdoing it. • When you resume breathing, do so only through your nose. Try to calm your breathing immediately. • After resuming your breathing, your first breath will probably be bigger than normal. Make sure that you calm your breathing as soon as possible by suppressing your second and third breaths. • You should be able to recover normal breathing within 2 or 3 breaths. If your breathing is erratic or heavier than usual, you have held your breath for too long. • Wait 1 or 2 minutes before repeating the breath hold. • In order to prepare yourself for the longer breath holds, go easy for the first few repetitions, increasing your paces each time. • Repeat for a total of 6 breath holds, creating a fairly strong need for air.

Nose unblocking

Sit up straight. Allow your shoulders to relax. Imagine a piece of string gently holding you up from the top of the back of your head. At the same time, feel the space between your ribs gradually widening. • Place one hand on your chest and one hand just above your navel. • Feel your abdomen gently moving outward as you inhale and gently moving inward as you exhale. • As you breathe, exert gentle pressure with your hands against your abdomen and chest. This should create resistance to your breathing. • Breathe against your hands, concentrating on making the size of each breath smaller. • With each breath, take in less air than you would like to. Make the in-breath smaller or shorter. • Gently slow down and reduce your breathing movements until you feel a tolerable hunger for air. • Breathe out with a relaxed exhalation. Allow the natural elasticity of your lungs and diaphragm to play their role in each exhalation. Imagine a balloon slowly and gently deflating of its own accord. • When the in-breath becomes smaller and the out-breath is relaxed, visible breathing movements will be reduced. You may be able to notice this in a mirror.

Small breath ovement exercise

Advantage Warm-Up • Begin walking at a pace that is comfortable for you. • During your warm-up, try to breathe regularly and calmly through your nose, using your diaphragm to maintain a gentle and relaxed breathing technique. • Feel your abdomen gently moving outward as you inhale and gently moving inward as you exhale. • As you walk, allow a feeling of relaxation to spread throughout your body. Silently encourage the area around your chest and abdomen to relax (you will find that any tension can be released by silently telling that area of the body to relax). Feel your body relax and become soft. Body relaxation during physical exercise helps to ensure steady, calm, and regular breathing. • After 1 minute or so of walking at a fairly good pace, exhale normally through your nose and pinch your nose with your fingers to hold the breath. (If you are in a public place, you might prefer to hold the breath without holding your nose.)

Warm up

Avoid eating within the 2 hours before sleep, as the process of digestion increases breathing. • Keep your bedroom cool and airy (but not cold). A hot and stuffy room will only serve to increase breathing. • Sleep on your front or left side; sleeping on your back is by far the worst position, as there is no restriction to your breathing. • Ensure that your mouth is closed while you try to get to sleep (you can wear 1-inch Micropore tape across the lips as described in chapter 3 to help ensure this). • A most important practice to discourage heavy breathing at night is to Breathe Light to Breathe Right for 15 to 20 minutes before going to sleep. This exercise is especially good for calming the mind and helping you to experience deep sleep during the nights leading up to competition.

Sleep preparation

Along with beet juice, essential nitric oxide–producing, heart-protecting food sources to include in your diet include fish, green vegetables, dark chocolate, red wine (a glass per day—not the bottle!), pomegranate juice, green or black tea, and oatmeal. Food sources to be limited in your diet include the usual culprits of meat and processed foods. Along with eating the right foods, supplementing your diet with the amino acid L-arginine has been proven to increase nitric oxide production, although results vary depending on age and genetics. These simple changes to your diet, in addition to simply breathing lightly through your nose, may provide the key to lifelong cardiovascular health.

Key diet ingredients to lifelong cardiovascular heath