So go on: take a deep breath and plunge in. HOW TO BREATHE PROPERLY * Learn to 'draw on the well' Find an image for the breath in your stomach -- it might be fire, light or a well. This is to help you visualise your breath coming from the deeper part of the lungs and helps you to stop shallow breathing. Use this image whenever doing breathing exercises. * Relax your breathing mechanisms Stand up, plant your feet firmly on the floor, hip-width apart. Relax your shoulders. Soften your joints -- ankles, knees, hips. At the same time, feel your spine straighten up through the crown to the ceiling, so that you feel loose but have height. Keep the head straight but allow it to bob about slightly on the atlas joint (the pivot which makes it possible for you to nod). * Breathe the right way round Place both hands, one on top of the other, over your stomach (using the belly button as the central point). Breathe in and feel your stomach expand; breathe out and push the stomach gently back in with it. We tend to "breathe backwards" (hunching our shoulders and sucking our stomachs in when we take a deep breath); this exercise makes us aware of the correct way to breathe. * Practise wide breathing Feel yourself expand as you breathe. Place your hands just above your hips on your bottom ribs -- you should feel these expand in and out as you breathe.