LET GO DEEP BREATHING
RELAX WITH DEEP BREATHING
Do you experience pain during sex or during a gynecological examination? Learn here how to relax using your breath.
We breathe approximately 10 to 20 times per minute—completely automatically. Imagine if you had to remind yourself to breathe each time; you wouldn’t be able to focus on anything else.
HOW TO BREATHE
The diaphragm is the muscle located under the lungs at the point where the lower ribs meet. When it contracts, it pulls the lungs downward, expanding them and drawing air in. When the diaphragm relaxes, the lungs return to their original position, and air is pushed out.
Imagine the diaphragm behind your solar plexus as you breathe in—how it lowers and gently presses down on your organs and intestines, which then press down on your pelvic floor. This internal pressure affects more than just your lungs. Use deep breathing to feel your body: How do your chest and abdomen move? Are you holding back or letting go? Do your shoulders lift? If they do, focus on allowing your stomach and ribs to expand when you inhale.
THE DEEP BREATH
Breathe in so deeply that your abdomen expands evenly all the way around—both your navel and ribs move. Your sternum should not move. Feel how your body opens all the way down to your pelvic floor as you inhale through your nose. When you release the air, do so through your nose or mouth, and concentrate on keeping your jaws relaxed.
Timing: It takes about 3-4 seconds to inhale. Hold your breath briefly. Exhale, which lasts a bit longer, about 5 seconds. Pause before you inhale again. Take three deep breaths in this way. Experiment to find out whether it suits you best to exhale through your mouth or nose.
These deep breaths might be useful during intercourse. Imagine your cervix moving slowly, rhythmically, and welcomingly in sync with your breath—much like a jellyfish moves in water. Imagine how your cervix pulses within your vagina.
THE SHORTENED BREATH
If you’re stressed, your body may shorten your breathing—this can also result from a bad habit. The result is that your lungs don’t fill as much as they can. This happens automatically, without you consciously instructing your body.
Short breaths mean that the diaphragm doesn’t lower as much as during normal breathing. This means your organs aren’t affected as before. Since your lungs aren’t filling as usual, your body can’t absorb and expel the amounts it normally does and needs.
Conscious, deep breaths cause the diaphragm to contract more, and your lungs expand more than with normal breaths. More movement brings in more air, which means more oxygen can be transported to the rest of your body.
By practicing deep breathing, you might influence your daily, unconscious breathing to become a bit deeper and longer. Perhaps you’re currently breathing 15-20 times per minute. By calming down, you might reduce this to 5-10 breaths per minute.
THE CALMING EFFECT OF BREATHING
Calm breathing can have a soothing effect, almost meditative in quality.
When you work with your breathing, focus on yourself and one of life’s most basic elements: bringing oxygen into your body and expelling carbon dioxide. Bringing energy into your body and removing unneeded waste.
THE CONNECTION BETWEEN NERVES AND BREATHING
When someone panics, we often advise them to breathe to calm down.
Through conscious breathing, we enhance a basic process in our body, but we also focus momentarily on a single thing, letting everything else fade away.
You can soothe your nerves by letting your thoughts focus on breathing in and out. Shift your focus away from everything that strains your nerves and instead create calm by simply supplying your body with what is good for it.
HARNESS YOUR LAZY BRAIN
You can create a connection between your conscious breath and muscle relaxation. By teaching your body how to react in certain situations, you can build a bridge between an action and how you want your body to respond.
By practicing conscious breathing and deliberate relaxation, your body will gradually understand what to do when you begin deep breathing.
“LET GO” EXHALATION
“Let go” is a mental exercise where the brain is programmed to send a message to tight muscles (e.g., in the pelvic floor) to relax.
Letting go in the pelvic floor can be compared to the feeling you have when you’re on the toilet and release what you need to.
When you inhale, imagine how your internal organs gently place their full weight on your tense pelvic floor as it relaxes and stretches out. As you release the air, tell yourself “let go” and focus on relaxation in the pelvic floor.
“LET GO” BREATHING
Here’s how to create muscle relaxation using breathing:
- Inhale and feel the diaphragm lower.
- Hold your breath for a moment.
- Let go of the diaphragm and think “let go” as you let the air slowly escape.
Do it again, this time selecting a specific part of the body you wish to relax. Is it your pelvic floor muscles? Your shoulders? Your jaws? Keep your focus where you want to relax.
You need to practice your conscious breathing to reap the full benefits. If you practice a few minutes each day, it will take some time—perhaps a few months—before your body understands what you want. How quickly it progresses depends on how good a connection you have with your body and how dedicated you are to your exercises.
USING “LET GO” BREATHING
These “let go” breaths can be used in many situations. If you’re practicing breathing due to an overactive pelvic floor or tight tissue, you can use the method when you need to insert, for example, a dilator.
You might also benefit from “let go” when you feel your pelvic floor muscles starting to tighten. Perhaps you’re afraid that sex will hurt, or you’re nervous because you’re about to undergo a gynecological examination. Through your breathing exercises, you might realize that you’ve previously held your breath or shortened your breathing in uncomfortable situations. Now you have a method to address it and manage involuntary tensions.
Good luck with your training, and remember to breathe.