Proper Breathing

There are many schools of thought on proper breathing. Volumes have been written about it, and many tie deep breathing with spiritual practice, yoga for example. I would encourage you study further into proper breathing, but for now I'll give you a simple technique that I use:

• Think of the front of your torso, from the top of your lungs to the bottom of your stomach as one empty chamber
• Make sure your back is straight and your shoulders are relaxed
• You're going to breath in through your nose and exhale through your mouth
• As you take a breath feel it start to fill the very bottom of your stomach. You should notice your stomach expand as you so this. As you continue taking the breath and your stomach has filled with air start filling your lungs with air, from the bottom all the way to the top of the lungs.
• When you have filled your entire stomach and lungs with air you can hold the breath for a second then slowly release the breath through your mouth.

As you do this for the first time it's going to fell unnatural because you're working and expanding parts of your lungs that have been dormant for so long. But you will notice a big difference in the way you feel by practicing deep breathing.