Taking the 'Chill' Pill
Posted: Tuesday, March 17, 2009
by Nancy Daniels
Voice Dynamic
Monday at
So here I was standing outside of Macy's telling him to take the ‘chill' pill. Essentially, I explained the technique of diaphragmatic breathing to him and told him to trust me – that this would work. I also suggested that he take a few minutes while breathing and imagine himself somewhere pleasurable; i.e. at a soccer game in
After the class he immediately phoned me to announce that not only had he led the session successfully but he also had gotten a B on the paper he had completed last week. So I asked about the breathing, "Did it help?"
"Absolutely," he said, "In fact, I am still doing it."
What did I teach my son to do that most people don't do? It is called diaphragmatic breathing and it is something that 99% of the population is unaware of. Oddly enough, all mammals do it except the most intelligent of them. We were born breathing with this support; but, as we develop we stop the practice and revert to shallow or lazy breathing. It is a medical fact.
Unfortunately, shallow breathing actually increases your stress because it does not allow for the elimination of the toxins in your body. And those toxins are what exacerbate your stress. Deep, supported breathing (which all opera singers are doing) rids the body of these toxins which is why, if you have ever studied with a classically-trained singer, you may have noticed that you felt light-headed during the class. The reason is that you were getting more oxygen to the brain.
Look at the 3 figures below:
The figure on the left is in a relaxed state. The diaphragm, marked by the dark line shaped like a hook, is at ease. The figure in the middle, however, is typical of incorrect breathing, in which the gut is sucked in, the chest is pushed out, and the shoulders are lifted up. Notice that for the figure on the right, however, the diaphragm has actually moved down and expanded out. The chest and the shoulders have not moved. What is interesting to note is the difference in lung capacity between the figure in the middle and the one on the right.
If you would like to learn how to take a proper breath, place you hands under your rib cage and cough. Did you feel your diaphragm, that muscular partition, kick out at you? Now, keeping your hands in the same position, take a breath through your mouth (only for the purposes of learning the technique – at all other times I want you breathing through your nose) and move your air all the way down, feeling your diaphragm expand. You will feel your hands moving as well. Remember, the area below your rib cage is what should move, not your upper chest. It really does work so practice this until you get it.
There is no doubt that some stress in life is good; the problem for many people, however, is that they are beyond good stress. Where women usually notice it in their shoulder and neck regions by the end of the day, men typically feel it in the gut. Because I have been breathing correctly for the last 25 years, I do not carry stress the way others do. I breathe through it.
The best thing you can do is to make this breathing a habit, so I am suggesting that you take a deep, supported breath every time you answer the phone. Become like Pavlov's dog. Phone rings, you breathe. The more situations in which you can remember to take a breath, the sooner it will become a habit I pray, too, that my son will continue with this breathing because it will serve him well throughout his life, militarily, professionally, and personally.
Learn the technique of the ‘chill' pill and you can throw away the valium forever!
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More commentsGood article...and very informative. Also very helpful...thanks for sharing it with us...Asmita,You are welcome.Nancy
Hi Nancy.Unfortunately my dad was always "correcting" my posture. He would tell me to hold in my stomach, put my shoulders back and stand up straight. Guess the hold in your stomach was the wrong part. I still have a tendency to do that all these years later. And you are right, it does make for shallow breathing. Don't know if I can break myself of the habit ... don't really like it when my tummy sticks out (actually feels uncomfortable), but taking a good deep breath now and then sounds like a no-brainer.Thanks for the information and instructions.DianneDianne,Thanks for your comment.By the way, I'm not talking about your lower belt muscles. Correct breathing does not mean that your those pelvic muscles will move -- it is the mid-torso region.When I'm working with the speaking voice, once we move into projection, which is the increasing of one's volume without shouting, we then pull in those lower belt muscles to push out more sound.[I love the belt muscles; they are the true source of our strength.]Nancy
Excellent job and great advice! "Take a chill pill" is what we say around our house often :-) Comes second to "let it go Lou".Thanks for sharing your great insights and wisdom. I always learn from you! Blessings, TeresaTeresa,I like "Let it go, Lou." Sounds like the title of a song.Thank you for reading this.Nancy
That's really educational Nancy! Great!David,I hope you will try this. It works!Nancy
hi nancy,very helpful, thank you.i knew the importance of breathing in relaxation, i just never had it explained HOW to do so. the diagrams were helpful as well.i was in texas last friday, and saw my son graduate. it was wonderful.i'm proud for your son, good job.my best to you,sueSue,I am so happy for you and proud of your son as well. My stepson is a Marine and served 3 tours in Iraq. Just like you experienced with your son, I saw Phil go in a boy and come out a man. Quite impressive.Thanks for reading this.And, by the way, try the breathing. It works!Nancy
breathing has long been known to control anxietyPaul,Diaphragmatic breathing has long been known to reduce anxienty; unfortunately, most people aren't doing it. Having worked with thousands of people, I can tell you from experience that what I say is true.Nancy
Deep breathing is something i have been doing for long time and it worksRichard,I am glad to hear it. If more people would learn to breathe properly, I am confident that they would notice a difference in their health.Thank you for sharing,Nancy
Hi Nancy,It amazes me how even one release breath, always using the diaphragm by nature, releases so much stress. I've breathed many of these breaths over the last few months and it surely helps.Val,I am so glad that you have noticed the difference. Keep at it.Nancy
I will certainly have this article in mind as I go about my day. I am stress city usually so hopefully this will help. Thanks!
Great article! I have pretty bad asthma and have to use a C-PAP machine to control sleep apnea. If I forget to turn the machine on before I fall asleep, I will most often wake up in a panic, and sometimes not be able to stop a panic attack. So I'd have to say not breathing adds to anxiety!I did the breathing as you directed and immediately started coughing and yawning over and over. I know... it's my lungs screaming, "Was that air? Real oxygen?! Give me more! Give me More!"My pulmonologist says that I do guarded breathing. I don't always wheeze with asthma because rather than get the coughing and wheezing, I just breathe very shallowly. This is my subconscious, of course, because eventually I cough and wheeze anyway, but with even less oxygen than I would have had, had I let my lungs recieve as much oxygen as possible.I learned this breathing for singing years ago. I will try to remember to help my lungs out so they don't feel so neglected!Victoria
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