Augusto's Breathing Exercise

The Freediving Two-Section Breath Up
(Stomach & Chest)

Hopefully you’re convinced of the benefits of breathing techniques (if not read our blog post Born to breath-hold? ), so here’s one to try. This is a technique recommended by Wildfitness Coach, Augusto, who is also a professional free-diving instructor. While it is a technique from free-diving, it is easy to master and still gives the wonderful effect of making you feel super chilled out. Watch the video and read the instructions below for more detail.

Note: Inhale & Exhale through the mouth

1. Practise pursing your lips into an “O” shape. Gently blow air in and out many times, feeling the pressure on the lips. The “O” shape allows a much more efficient & controlled breath-up. Also, it encourages relaxation of our mind & body (through the long and passive exhalations).

2.The Inhalation: 1st fill up the lower part of the lungs by pushing the belly outwards. 2nd, once the belly feels full (but not to the point of exploding), breath into your chest by expanding your ribcage at the same time as you push your chest forward and pull your shoulders back (all of these moves have to be very slow and gentle, try to synchronize them with the speed at which the air is coming in).

3. The Exhalation: start by making a little POP sound with your lips, allowing a little bit of air to escape and ensuring a controlled exhalation. After the POP, exhale continuously and passively. NEVER PUSH THE AIR OUT. The moment the pressure on your lips drops, that tells you the exhalation is over.

4. Try 10-12 cycles in this manner (breathing in and out counts as 1 cycle).

5. IMPORTANT: if the cycles make you feel tired, or you experience a lack of air, try 2-3 “flashes” in between each cycle. A flash is an effortless, normal breath, without “O” shaped lips and without thinking about the stomach and chest.

6. A proper breath-up should consist of 10-12 cycles and take 3:30 – 4:00 minutes (with or without flashes).