Learning to Breathe: the Three Habits that Change Your Everyday Breath
Put one hand on your chest and one on your belly. Breathe as you always do. Which hand moves first?
If it is the one on your chest, you are in good company. No one teaches us to breathe, and most of us do it badly without knowing. Before any intense experience, before rebirthing and circles, there is something simpler and more neglected: learning to breathe well every day.
It is the first door of the breath at the masseria. The one anyone can walk through. The one that makes all the others useful.
Why we breathe badly
Modern life works against us. Hours spent sitting. Screens that close the chest. Stress that raises the shoulders. A blocked nose that opens the mouth.
The result is a short, high, fast breath, often through the mouth. A breath that keeps the nervous system in a mild but constant alarm. You do not notice, because it has become normal. You notice when someone gets you to breathe another way, and you feel the difference.
The three habits
1. Through the nose. The nose filters, warms, humidifies and slows the air. The mouth does not. Breathing through the nose by day and by night is the first change, and often the hardest: those who have breathed through the mouth for years feel they are not getting enough air. It is trained with patience, and with exercises that get you used to a little air hunger.
2. Slowly. An adult at rest breathes on average 12-18 times a minute. Functional breathing goes below 10, with the out-breath longer than the in-breath. It is the rhythm that tells the nervous system to lay down its arms. It is trained with exercises of a few minutes, several times a day.
3. With the diaphragm. The breath should go down into the belly and widen the lower ribs, not lift the shoulders. The diaphragm is a muscle. And like all muscles, it can be retrained.
What changes
Those who keep the three habits for a few weeks generally report more calm. More continuous sleep, often with less snoring. Less tension in the neck and jaw. More stamina in sport. A steadier voice.
These are effects on wellbeing that you can feel. They come with consistency, not with one session.
How you learn at the masseria
With a one-to-one session of one hour. Davide, breath coach and facilitator, who works with Masseria Montanari, observes how you really breathe, measures a few simple parameters and gives you three exercises tailored to you. Or with a cycle of four meetings a week apart, which accompanies you until the change becomes a habit.
It is also the right door for those who cannot do the intense practices. In pregnancy, with cardiovascular conditions, with conditions under treatment, functional breathing is gentle and safe. If in doubt, your doctor is always the person to ask.
The next step
Those who have learnt to breathe well arrive at the breathing circle and at rebirthing with a body that already knows what to do. The intense practices become deeper and safer. That is the arc of the breath at the masseria: learn, loosen, transform. In the stone vaulted hall, in Carpignano Salentino, 25 minutes from Lecce, with the olive trees outside the door.
Frequently asked questions
How much time a day does it take? Five minutes, five or six times a day, for a month. Better little and often than half an hour once a week.
My nose is often blocked: can I still do it? Yes, and it is one of the reasons to start. Nasal breathing, trained gradually, often improves how open the nose is. For structural problems, your doctor is the person to ask.
Do I need it before doing rebirthing? It is not compulsory, but it helps. Those who already have functional breathing enter the intense practices more easily and with less initial effort.
Book a session
You do not have to know how it is done already. You just have to start. Tell me how you breathe and what you are looking for on the Breath page: you do not need to write much. I will reply myself, usually within a day, and together we will work out where to start. If you are coming from far away, you can stay the night at the masseria.
Breathing practices are experiences of wellbeing and awareness offered under Italian Law 4/2013: they are not a remedy for anything and do not replace medical or psychological care.