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The Power of your Breath with Fiona Howell from Equine Mind Coach
This article is from the May 2020 Horse Deals magazine.
Breathing... it sounds simple right? Breathing is something we are born to do and perform on a daily basis, in fact, we take approximately 20,000 breathes per day.
Did you know your breathing can affect how you think, how you feel, how you ride, and how you compete?
Many of us have become shallow breathers, holding our breath and taking in less air.
When we breathe shallow, our body creates its own stress signals. Shallow breathing sets off our sympathetic nervous system also known as the flight or fight response, designed to help us survive in moments of threat.
Shallow breathing creates tension which can lead to everyday problems. A shallow breath comes from your throat or chest, and when we do this, we breathe from our shoulders and neck which can result in neck pain, headaches or poor posture. Are you experiencing this now?
Shallow breathing also pumps less blood and oxygen through to all our cells, which can be more susceptible to contracting illnesses and prolong injury healing time.
Unfortunately, over time it can also turn into panic attacks, cause dry mouth and fatigue, aggravate respiratory problems or cause depression and cardiovascular issues.
The Benefits of Diaphragmatic Breathing
Deep breathing or “diaphragmatic breathing” on the other hand can have the following benefits:
• It helps you relax, lowering stress and the release of cortisol
• It lowers the heart rate
• It lowers your blood pressure
• It improves your core muscle stability
• It improves your body’s ability to tolerate intense exercise
• It lowers your chance of injuring yourself
• It builds your immune system
• It slows your rate of breathing so that It expends less energy
Where can you find your diaphragm muscle?
Your lungs sit in your chest, protected by your rib cage, along with your heart. And just below your lungs, you’ll find your diaphragm muscle, which is a large muscle that assists your lungs to pump blood and oxygen further around your body, activating more cells.
Once you practice diaphragmatic breathing on a regular basis, you will start to create more connection with yourself, you’ll become more centred, more present and become more focused.
You’ll start to think more in a positive way, and you’ll start to act more in a positive way. Imagine the benefits towards your horse, your training and competing.
How shallow breathing could be affecting your horse riding?
If you’ve ever experienced nerves, nausea, confusion, doubt or memory loss right before your competition – There’s a fair chance your shallow breathing.
If you’ve experienced an overly reactive horse or stressed horse at an event, I’ve discovered it could be our excess energy or tension we are transferring through to them.
It’s important that we create a relaxed and composed rider within ourselves to create that magic connection between our horse and can compete at a high performance.
Remember;
A relaxed rider = A relaxed horse
A focused rider = A focused horse
A confident rider = A confident horse
A composed rider = A composed horse
How Diaphragmatic Breathing can Benefit your Riding and Competition
Apart from the positive benefits I’ve already mentioned, I’d like to share with you how it can benefit your riding.
As a rider, you may already be aware that you can exhale your breath to create a sliding stop! Why is it your horse can feel the lightest movement?
During our breathing process, we breathe in which contracts our diaphragm pulling your ribs upwards and outwards lifting and opening the chest and your core. This has an effect of lifting and lightening in your seat and has an upward engaging effect.
Try it now, while sitting upright. Imagine your sitting on your horse and inhale. Can you feel yourself lifting and lightening?
Then, when you breathe out, your body naturally collapses, creating your seat to deepen in the saddle.
Utilising your breath while riding can also avoid those dreaded stitches or cramps you may have experienced during a fast workout.
When you’re riding next, focus on your deep diaphragmatic breathing as an exercise. Notice how much more relaxed you and your horse become. Once relaxed, you can start to time your breath with engaging and slowing your horse.
Imagine how much communication and connection you will start to form with your horse.
How can you improve your breathing and feel the magic between you and your horse?
Let’s try it now...
1. Lie on your back on a flat surface.
2. Place one hand on your chest, and your other hand on your belly, just below your rib cage. This is to allow you to feel your diaphragm engage and expand as you breathe.
3. This exercise requires you to inhale and exhale through your nose.
4. As you inhale through your nose, count for four rhythmic counts 1 – 2 – 3 – 4.
5. As you exhale through your nose, count for four rhythmic counts 1 – 2 – 3 – 4.
As you inhale for four counts, your aim is to feel your belly expand up like a balloon. The hand on your chest should remain as still as possible.
As you exhale for four counts, your aim is to feel your belly deflate, while your chest remains still.
You also want to aim to have equal flow in your inhale and equal flow in your exhale.
How are you feeling? When you first learn the diaphragmatic breathing technique, it may be easier to follow the instructions laying down. As you gain more practice, you can start to practice in the chair, whilst driving, and whilst riding.
At first, you may become tired, a little frustrated or experience boredom, but with continued practice, diaphragmatic breathing will become easy and automatic and your body will naturally crave it. Drink plenty of water afterwards.
How often should I practice deep breathing?
At first, practice this exercise for five minutes per day, approximately three to four times per day.
After all – we all have time during lockdown yeah? Get the kids involved and make it a family exercise.
Practice it around your horse and notice if your horse become more relaxed.
Happy breathing!
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