First of all, you can be using your whole body to breathe. Your abdominals, the front of your chest, the sides of your chest, your back - all fully ready, yet fully relaxed for each and every breath. Each muscle group can be completely under your control, so that you can use your breathing to energize, restore, refresh or relax; whatever you need, whenever you need it.

As you get better at this, you can also learn to have a better pace for your breathing. Well paced breathing takes time for breathing in, for holding the breath and, especially, for letting go of the breath. It can be relaxed and feel easy, like nature and gravity are doing all the work.

As you improve in your ability to breathe well, you will have more energy during the day, you will sleep better at night, your immune system will improve and there's even some evidence to suggest you will have less risk of conditions like heart attacks. For people with lung disorders, like emphasima and asthma, learning to breathe well and having good control over your breathing is essential.

There is no right or wrong answer here. There won't be a test on this. If you're a person who needs to know how well you're doing with this discovery exercise, write me and I'll give you a passing grade. Better yet, write down your own observations. You'll have a chance to compare these with notes written by the future you. That's the person who will be giving your final grade.

Every now and then, you are wise to come back to this discovery exercise. It will soon show you how you're doing. You'll notice ways in which your breathing patterns are changing and you'll notice ways in which you next want to improve.