I’ve always had breathing problems as far back as I can remember.  My parents say that I had issues farther back than that.  I don’t think they were as bad in Texas and Oklahoma, but in New England these issues are pretty fierce.  I can remember a couple of times in Vermont where, thanks to a leaky woodstove, I got coughing hard enough to spit blood into the snow before vomiting.

As a child, the doctors diagnosed me with Reactive Airway Disease, which is sort of like asthma, but not.  They put me on Theophylline, which never seemed to do much.  I’ve also been taking Antihistamines since I was young because my allergies have always been bad.  Tobacco smoke is one of the worst, but dust, pollen, mold, and just about everything else set me off as well.

On top of this, my most common illness is an upper repiratory infection that starts in the sinuses and moves down my throat into the lungs.  I then rattle around for a few weeks until it clears up.  I know that I’ve had this pattern of illness since at least late elementary school, so around thirty years.

The funny thing is that my lung capacity is actually pretty good.  I can bellow like a drill sergeant, full “command voice” and all.  I can, on a good day, hold Javert’s note at the end of “Stars” or the Phantom’s note at the end of “Music of the Night“…  On a good day.

When I was consulting a spiritworker around other issues, she mentioned that my “Ond” was messed up, i.e.- I had breath problems, both physically and spiritually.  On her advice, I started looking into Pranayama.  In essence, it is a form of breathing exercises from India that are intended to promote both physical and spiritual health.

Admittedly, I haven’t delved deeply to the mystical side of breathing better, but I can say that it can be both relaxing and invigorating.  I had trouble keeping time, in part because my mind wanders, so I gave up for a bit.

Since then, I have discovered a Pranayama timing app for my phone.  It was inexpensive and offers custom “programs” in addition to standard timings.  I find the auditory cues very helpful in staying focused on my breathing without cluttering up my mind too much.

I need to do more Pranayama before I can really say that it’s the bee’s knees, but with this new app, I’m finding some success in breathing better.  Of course, it’s also a workout on my diaphragm and it brings up phlegm, but those are probably good things.

Remember, breathe into your belly first…