Band Director

Mike,
I am a band director and have been looking for a set of breathing exercises that will accomplish a couple of goals:
The first, of course, is to give my students a better sound which is accomplished through better breath support.
The second is to help them calm down and focus at the beginning of class, which should lead to more order and better discipline in class.
 
Somewhere in a magazine i saw a set of breathing exercises that varied the length of the inhale, hold, exhale and rest cycles to achieve more focus, relaxation, calmness, energy, and other goals. Unfortunately, the article was lost before I made a copy. Do you have a book on this type of breathing, or know of anything that might help me?
 
Thanks, Scott Blain

From Mike: Hmmm. I went back to my high school glee club and trained them in some great stuff for pre performance anxiety using the Straw Technique. Go to Optimal Breathing Kit.  Please tell your colleagues about your successes as well.  mike

Breathless When Jogging 
"I, like a few of my friends have taken up many cardio exercises in the last year. Even though we train hard and regularly we always find ourselves very out of breath even doing light jogging.

I wanted to know if we were breathing correctly and scoured the web for information on proper breathing techniques and that's when I came across you're website. I had never before heard of breathing through the nose only and this seemed to make sense after reading some of your articles. I then decided to introduce your site to a couple of friends and they were also intrigued by the information on breathing techniques.

I have tried this method and it wasn't as taxing as i first thought it would be. I am however needing to breathe through my mouth now and then especially when faced with a steep incline. I read that at first its a little difficult and gets easier as time progresses. I hope this is the case and would like any more information you have on this fascinating topic so that i could better help myself and educate others in this possible technique. 
I have spoken to several hardcore joggers about this and non of them have heard of this before. I look forward to any more information you can give me." 

From Mike:
Walking, even race walking is better for you and more readily allows nose breathing. The folks that live the longest vitality filled lives walk or swim, not jog. I recently (2012) nose breathed to a 1500K race-walk bronze medal in the Senior Games. To make better use of the nose breathing aspect one needs to address developing their breathing . Energy Through Optimal Breathing  Also try Nasivent (try the medium first. (I am 6'2 in and use the large) at Amazon.com  They open the nostrils better than Breathe Right Strips although Breathe Right can be very helpful as well. Rolfing to open the nostrils may be helpful. Surgeries often do not last beyond 5 years or you have a constant need to medicate or nasal irrigation due to key membranes being removed.  Breathing Through the Nose