Stress is a cause of many physical, mental and emotional problems that society faces today. The effects of stress also ripple out into other parts of our lives, and eventually start to affect our relationships and also the quality of our life. Being able to relax and let go of this tension in the physical, mental and emotional dimensions can really help us improve our quality of life.

The most obvious way we use our breathing to relax ourselves is by sighing. Try sighing now if you like. The reason why it feels right is because you are using one of the body's own relaxation mechanisms to help you let go of tension.. It is therefore no surprise that breathing affects us physiologically and vice versa. Often we are not aware of how our breathing is affected by other physiological events, but here are a few examples.

Should you be surprised by someone jumping out from behind a tree shouting "Boo!", the first thing you do is inhale sharply and hold your breath. The surprise manifests as a brief moment of anxiety and that heartbeat of emotional tension manifests in turn as a holding of the breath.

Holding your breath will automatically cause you to hold tension in the body, because having your breath static is an unnatural state for the body to be in. The breath does not like being held still, and that limbo between breaths is stressful for the body, because it's natural state is one of constant flux, constant change. We are normally always either breathing in, or out. The body doesn't usually stop breathing unless something catastrophic has happened to it. Try it out if you like, if you hold your breath for too long you'll notice that your body will start to tense up.

Stressed people who are thinking about a difficult problem or issue, you will probably at some point hold your breath. If you work in an office, watch someone who's having a bad day. As they concentrate intently, they'll inhale and hold their breath whilst they're thinking, then instinctively exhale and sigh as if to try to relieve the stress. The mental tension will start to manifest itself physically by you holding your breath.

Martial artists who have done any sparring or contact training will understand that when they are under a lot of pressure, the stress saps their energy a lot quicker. This is generally because they are holding their breath, and this means that the body isn't getting enough oxygen to feed the muscles, which means they use up energy far quicker than they expect.

Just as one's physical and mental state can affect the breath, the breath can also have positive or detrimental effects on the rest of the body.

Pregnant women are taught breathing techniques to cope with the rigors of childbirth and soldiers in some units around the world are shown how to breath to handle the stress of combat.

So if you can focus and moderate your breathing, you can influence your physiology in a positive way and help control your own stress responses. Calm the breath and the body and mind follows.

Correct breathing during Taijiquan practise will make your Taijiquan better. Breathing during Taijiquan practise is breathing practise.

Good breathing habits will make every part of our life better.

The first thing it will do is enable you to cope more easily with tension and stress.

When you have re-programmed the breathing pattern, when your body starts breathing more naturally, it will continue to do this in everyday life, whether or not you are conscious of it. When things get stressful, your body will instinctively continue to breathe correctly to help you relieve the pressure on yourself.

And that, can only be a good thing.

Mark Tan is a Taijiquan teacher specialising in stress relief and back pain.

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