Breath Practice:
Complete Breath
Complete Breath
The Complete Breath encourages students to practice deepening and slowing of rhythms of their breathing. This pattern of deep, slow breathing engages the muscles of respiration more fully and exchanges more air through the lungs than a typical breath does. The Complete Breath is also sometimes referred to as the 3-part-breath because of the way the technique works on different areas of the body.
As muscles of the diaphragm contracts with the inhale, in presses down on the abdominal organs beneath and pushes the belly out. Through habit, culture, and other factors, many of us often avoid this “belly breathing,” and practicing this part of the Complete Breath can help unlearn this pattern.
The contraction of the diaphragm on the inhale works to spread and expand the rib cage in all directions, allowing the lungs to expand more fully.
As the inhale grows deeper and longer, the movement of the breath lifts the collarbones and expands into the upper chest. This small and subtle movement is often felt during our deepest breaths.
Builds awareness of breathing mechanisms
Tones breathing musculature
Massages internal organs and facilitates digestion
Encourages the relaxation response
Reduces blood pressure
Stabilizes the body when combined with postures
Instructions:
1. Sit in a relaxed and alert position.
2. Close your eyes if you choose. Relax your jaw, the features of your face, and shoulders. Breathe in and out through the nose naturally with no extra effort.
3. Place your hands on your belly and feel the belly expand with the inhale, then release as you exhale. Repeat this several times, allowing the movement of the belly to grow without pushing or forcing.
4. Bring your hands to the sides of your ribs and feel the rib cage expand with the inhale, then release with the exhale. Repeat this several times, allowing the movement of the ribs to grow without pushing or forcing.
5. Bring your hands to your collarbones and chest and feel the upper chest rise with the inhale and relax as you exhale. Repeat this several times, allowing this movement of the upper chest to grow without pushing or forcing.
6. Combine these movements to create a slow, smooth, and full inhalation. Then exhale slowly, gently engaging the abdomen to empty completely but without strain. As you repeat bring your hands to wherever they feel needed in order to deeper your awareness.
7. With you feel ready, rest your hands on your knees or in your lap and continue the Complete Breath for several minutes.
Focus on filling your belly completely with your breath as you inhale, hold it and let it all out as you exhale
Focus on filling your rib cage with your breath, it will expand as you fill your rib cage with breath on an inhale and contract as you exhale your breath completely out
Focus on filling your chest with your breath as you inhale and let it all out as you exhale.
Connecting all 3 parts into one complete breath, inhale fill your belly, ribs and chest and exhale feel your breath release from your chest, your ribs and belly.
Teaching Cues for Students
Implementation & Development
See our Child Development Page for more information to help tailor your instruction to best meet the needs of your students.
All children learn best given clear, concise, instructions, trying to reduce directional cues down to 4 steps.
Enjoys learning through games, songs, and stories. Cues for Balanced Breath can be woven into a song, built into an entry routine, or supported by fun props such as expandable spheres such as these.
Keep cues limited, simple, and be consistent with your working to help build a predictable routines. Modeling and pointing to the body parts you are engaging is useful.
Still enjoy routine, learning through games, group activity.
Appreciates praise and being noticed. After you teach the Balanced Breath, and students are comfortable and familiar, you may engage student leaders to guide the group.
Slightly longer attention spans, may be able to take in more instructions. You might invite students to notice the connections between the Balanced Breath practice, how they feel, and the quality of their minds, and feelings.
As adolescence begins and continues, students will start to feel preoccupied with body image. It is important to cultivate a safe space for students to practice the Balanced Breath where they don’t feel singled out and they have the option to close their eyes or to soften their gaze.
As students assert a greater level of autonomy, it is important to build in more opportunities for choice and agency. If possible give students options as which breathing practice they would like to explore., or choices within that practice. This can be as simple as choosing their count, choosing the direction of the count, etc.
Video
Helpful Hints
Placing hands on the body may be helpful in supporting children to understand and be in tune with where their breath is in their body. Before exploring the Balloon Breath, you may lead children to take deeper natural breathes, using their hands to feel the belly, ribs, and chest rise and fall with the inhale and exhale. This soft introduction may make the focus on the belly during Balloon Breath easier to anchor on to.
Precautions
Respiratory inflammation: practice moderately
Sinus congestion: breathe through the mouth as needed
Options
The Complete Breath can be done sitting, standing, laying down, or during a yoga posture.
Establishing a foundation of comfort with this first breathing practice is key. This practice is not about breathing “right” and the goals is not to make the breath as long or as large as possible, but to deepen the awareness of the breath and to experiment with where and how each student might use their breath as a source of comfort.
Because postural muscles are breathing muscles, having students lie down for all or part of the Complete Breath may help them feel and facilitate the movements of the breath, as those muscles will be supported by the floor and freer to respond to breathing.
Some students may habitually inhale with so much movement of the ribs that the belly draws inward on the inhale, rather than expanding. This habit, known as reverse-breathing can make the Complete Breath challenging to learn at first. Extra time and attention with “belly breathing” can help these students discover and practice with this new pattern.
Content from NYCDOE YMTP² curricular materials