The Power of Breath: Nasal Breathing for Better Health

“Practice when it’s easy.” 

Parallel parking. That was the first time I remember Jonathan saying “practice when it’s easy.” I’m terrible at it and especially when there is a lot of traffic or several parked cars nearby. Jonathan would say "practice when it’s easy,” meaning to do all the steps of parallel parking when there’s no traffic or other cars. 

This didn’t mean it was easy. It was still hard to parallel park without other cars around – it was just less stressful and there was a lot more room for error. 

Practice when it’s easy is something he’s been saying to me for several years in our nearly 20 years together and it’s a mantra I pull from regularly in my personal life and for our clients at Spears Strong. 

“It’s only when we practice when it’s easy that we can rely on breathing techniques when things get hard. ”

It’s a phrase I particularly love for this month’s theme at Spears Strong: Breathing. Nasal breathing benefits include everything from reducing stress to improving athletic performance to preventing illness. 

But to get those benefits we have to practice when it’s easy and we have to practice when it’s easy often. This means practicing our breathing techniques, our breathwork for stress our breathwork for endurance when we’re doing mellow things or feeling totally relaxed. We lie down or sit up and just focus on our nasal breathing exercises. When we do this repeatedly - practicing when it’s easy - then when we’re faced with something hard like a tough workout or stressful work meeting, we can tap into that muscle memory.

It’s only when we practice when it’s easy that we can rely on breathing techniques when things get hard. 

Fall in downtown Camas

Taking time to breathe in a relaxing moment is the way to “practice when it’s easy.”

In our personal lives Jonathan and I both spend at least 20-30 minutes a day focusing on our breathing, practicing when it’s easy. After years of doing this I’ve been able to reduce stress and have been free from panic attacks since 2020. 

The thing to know, though: ‘practice when it's easy’ doesn’t mean it is EASY. In fact, just getting into nasal breathing exercises or even awareness of your breathing is challenging. It takes time and consistency to do it before it feels more natural. And the work doesn’t stop, ever. Every day practicing our breathing when it's easy leads to better sleep, better energy, better endurance, improved immune function and less stress. 

Our small group personal training and personal training clients work on breathing in their workouts and at home. If you want help with breathing for athletic performance, breathing for stress relief, breathing for running or breathing for better health, schedule your consultation today!