Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art

In the practice of the Ha Breath, the exhalation is longer which helps you bring your nervous system into a parasympathetic state. You will be invited to contract your throat on the exhalation, making the ocean sound “Haaaaaaaa.”

Exhale nice and slowly without any force. Take one cycle of regular breathing (in and out). Repeat ten times. I do this every morning a few moments after waking to start the day. Most days I practise for five minutes, which sounds short but is deceptively challenging when you’re new to the practise.

“There are as many ways to breathe as there are foods to eat,” said one female instructor who had held her breath for more than eight minutes and once dived below 300 feet. “And each way we breathe will affect our bodies in different ways.” Another diver told me that some methods of breathing will nourish our brains, while others will kill neurons;