Are you breathing properly?

singingAs someone who took voice lessons and had been a runner my whole life, I’ve often noticed that running and singing have one very important attribute in common.  Breathing!  You might think it’s crazy to compare the two but I challenge you to ponder it.  When you are learning to sing, one of the first things you are told is that you need to sing from your diaphragm, which is an area right below your esophagus.

Singing with that throaty voice is tiring and not sustainable.  You get out of breath and the quality of your voice is just not the same.  Whereas singing from your diaphragm gives you this amazing ability to sustain a note for a long time because you are able to control the breathing.  Singers, who have mastered sustaining their notes this way, can sing for quite a while and maintain their breathing while producing great quality sound.  Well, I’m here to tell you that the same is true with running.

breathing-with-diaphragm3Concentrating on a deeper breathing will help you maintain your pace without struggling and getting out of breath.  Breathing from your diaphragm as opposed to your throat will prevent you from getting tired quickly because you will be sustaining and controlling oxygen better, just like in singing.   So, pretend you are an opera singer and run as if you are trying to sing from your diaphragm!  Try it and please write to me.  I would love to hear from you.

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