Breathing Practice for Beginners: Where to Actually Start

Start with two things: breathing so the lower ribs move rather than the shoulders, and making the exhale longer than the inhale. Those two cover most of what a beginner gets from breathing practice. Everything else — the named techniques, the ratios, the retentions — can wait, and some of it should.

The first thing: breathe lower

Put one hand on your chest and one on your lower ribs, and breathe normally. If the upper hand moves more, you are breathing mostly into the top of the chest, which is common in people who sit at desks and in people who are stressed, and which recruits muscles in the neck and shoulders that are usually already working too hard.

The correction is not to force the belly out. It is to let the lower ribs widen sideways as you breathe in. Slower and smaller is better than bigger. Three or four minutes of this, done daily, changes the default within a few weeks.

This is the least exotic thing in any yoga tradition and probably the most useful.

The second thing: lengthen the exhale

Breathe in for a count of four, out for a count of six. Or in for three and out for five. The numbers matter far less than the ratio, and the ratio matters because a longer exhale is associated with a shift towards the rest side of the nervous system — the clearest and best-described mechanism in this whole area.

Rules that make it work rather than backfire: nothing forced, no straining at the end of the out-breath, and no holding. If you are running out of air, the count is too long — shorten it. Five to ten minutes is plenty.

This is the practice to do in the evening, before a difficult meeting, or in a taxi on the way to one.

What to leave alone for now

Kapalabhati and bhastrika. Fast, forceful breathing. Genuinely stimulating, genuinely not a beginner practice, and a reliable way to make yourself lightheaded. They also do not belong in a fast, and in the UAE that makes Ramadan a month to leave them out entirely.

Long retentions. Holding the breath for extended counts is taught in most traditions and is taught late, for good reasons. Skip it until someone is watching you.

Alternate nostril breathing, sort of. Harmless and widely taught, and fine to try. Just be aware that the claims made for it considerably outrun what has been shown.

There are also people for whom breathing practice needs a doctor's input first: anyone with a significant respiratory condition, uncontrolled high blood pressure, a heart condition, glaucoma, or who is pregnant. Not because slow breathing is dangerous — because the more forceful practices can be, and because "breathing exercises" gets used as one category when it covers very different things.

When to practise

Slow breathing with a long exhale: evening, or any time you want to settle. It works sitting in a chair, so it does not need a mat or a change of clothes, which is most of why people actually keep doing it.

Lower-rib breathing: any time, and the best results come from short daily repetition rather than long sessions.

Neither needs a room. In Dubai in August, this is the entire practice for a lot of people on the days the rest of it does not happen.

What a teacher adds

Mostly, telling you what you are actually doing. Almost everyone believes they are breathing into their lower ribs, and a fair proportion are visibly lifting their shoulders while saying so. It is difficult to self-assess and obvious to someone watching, which makes it one of the better uses of a first session.

The second thing is a ratio that suits you. Four-and-six is a starting point, not a prescription, and a teacher will adjust it within about a minute of watching you try it.

Questions people ask

What is the best breathing exercise for a beginner?

Slow breathing with the exhale longer than the inhale — four in, six out is a reasonable starting ratio — with nothing forced and no breath holding. Alongside it, practising so the lower ribs widen rather than the shoulders lifting.

Why does a longer exhale calm you down?

Extending the exhale relative to the inhale is associated with increased parasympathetic activity, the branch of the nervous system linked to rest. It is the clearest mechanism in this area and it can be measured rather than only reported.

Is pranayama safe for everyone?

Slow, gentle breathing suits almost everybody. Forceful techniques and long breath retentions are a different matter, and anyone with a respiratory condition, uncontrolled high blood pressure, a heart condition or glaucoma, or who is pregnant, should get medical advice before those specifically.

How long should I practise for?

Five to ten minutes is enough for slow breathing, and three or four minutes is enough for lower-rib work. Daily repetition does far more than occasional long sessions.