Most of the time, we don’t pay attention to our breath at all. Experts share how our outbreath is key to allowing the body to let go of stress.
It feels, especially lately, that the world is releasing a emotional sigh. A COVID-weary, climate-anxious, war-distressed sigh.
But a sigh is really just an out-breath, an exhale, the companion to breathing in. “When we inhale, it’s a very active process,” says Dr. Ni-Cheng Liang, a pulmonary physician, podcast host, and mindfulness teacher who gets to see the process play out in her students. “The diaphragm actually has to pull itself down and flatten in order for us to invoke an inhaled breath.” The exhalation, on the other hand, is much more passive, and consequently, says Dr. Liang, doesn’t get as much attention. But what’s important, she explains, “is that we can actually control the out-breath and harness our own physiology to help exhale out all of our residual breath.” In other words, only when we deeply exhale will we be able to deeply inhale. That out-breath, that sigh, matters.
Continue reading Dr. Ni-Chieng Liang interview here.
Dr. Ni-Cheng Liang was named one of the “Women Leaders in Mindfulness” in Mindful Magazine for the August 2021 issue where they also reviewed the podcast she co-hosts (Mindful Healers Podcast).
Dr. Ni-Cheng Liang’s new podcast that she co-hosts with Dr. Jessie Mahoney is launching on 1/3! It’s called Mindful Healers. It’s for all healers notably healthcare professionals.
Pulmonologist Ni-Cheng Liang takes a look at how the breath—a common anchor of attention in meditation—can be triggering. Explore her masking practice to calm feelings of anxiety and stress when we’re unable to comfortably connect with the in or out breath.
