Isn’t the body incredible? It does so many things that we take for granted, every minute, every hour of every day. Your heart beats away in the background, your brain does any number of functions and makes decisions without you even having to think about it. Your stomach breaks down and processes your food without any help, and your lungs just breathe in and out all day.

The body is something I think we all take for granted until it stops working.

In 2025, I got viral pneumonia and spent five days in hospital, unable to walk up a flight of stairs. The impact of it blew me away. As I got back to fitness and my lungs returned to normal, I had a new found respect for breathing.

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In 2025, I spent five days in hospital with viral pneumonia.

In this week’s column that is exactly what I want to talk to you about. We just breathe, but in reality, we don’t breathe to the best of our ability, only partially filling and emptying the lungs on each inhalation and exhalation. When was the last time you filled your lungs and emptied them fully before inhaling again?

Nasal breathing: effective in winter as the hairs in your nose helps to warm and moisten the air.

And how do you actually breathe? Nasal breathing is incredible effective, especially in winter as the hairs in your nose helps to warm and moisten the air. Yet most of us breathe in and out through our mouths.

Try this for me. Close your mouth and breathe in and out through your nose as you read the rest of this column. What may feel slightly panicked at first, will feel normal in a couple of hundred words, trust me.

That is my first recommendation for you this week: learn to use and breathe through your nose more often throughout the day. Not only will it help you to breathe better, it will help to relax and destress you, help you sleep better, and help you feel calmer in general. It becomes a mindful moment in a chaotic day.

Next, I want you to try timing your breathing for me. Place your hand on your bellybutton and take six seconds to fill the lungs as much as you can, right from the bellybutton. Now, exhale for six seconds and empty the lungs fully. Did you notice how full and then how empty your lungs felt? That is the capacity your lungs have and it is a great awareness exercise for you to realise just what the lungs can do.

Relax and breath

Now, let’s create a more relaxed breathing pattern. I want you to try a simple breathe and hold technique. Breathe in for four seconds, hold the breath for four seconds, and breathe out for four seconds. Repeat the process as many times as you want. This is a great way to create some calm in your day, especially when the day is getting overwhelming or out of control. It is a technique that can instantly help you to become more present and focused on the now, and a lot less stressed.

Body scan breathing: a fantastic way to bring calm in moments of overwhelm.

Another version of this is to tense different body parts while you are practising the breathe and hold technique. This is called a body scan, where you work up from the legs to the mid section to the upper body, tensing the body on the hold, and releasing it on the exhalation.

I hope that you have realised that the lungs can do so much more than you think. These simple techniques are free and easy to do, and can be done anywhere. Try them for the next week and see what a difference they can make.

Next week: Karl Henry talks about the Camino de Santiago.

Scan the QR code below: Karl Henry demonstrates effective breathing techniques

SCAN THE QR CODE: Karl Henry demonstrates effective breathing techniques.