I have always breathed to the right only, but recently have started to try to learn how to breathe to my left. I am finding it much more difficult than I had anticipated. The main reason:
I am out of breath the whole time.
I feel like I am not getting the same quality of breath as I do when I breathe to the right. My breathing feels short and choppy. I also feel like I am lifting my head to breathe instead of breathing with my body roll.
Worse still, I am now dropping my right elbow and I am so out of breath the whole time, I can hardly concentrate on trying to keep it up.
On the positive side, my left elbow position has improved considerably (which is why I started down this road in the first place) and my kick is being forced to improve. (I have always had a crossover kick and for some reason or other when I breathe to my left, I don't do it).
Two weeks into the change now and it is definitely feeling more natural, however, I was hoping others who have tried this could give me some advice on what to watch out for and maybe give me some tips on how to make it feel more natural.
As a bilateral breather all I can tell you is that it just takes lots and lots of just doing it. I've been bi-lat breathing for years...decades...and I can't say that there is any one thing you can do that just suddenly makes it happen and feel natural. Just time. And then after a long long while you might find yourself wondering, unable to recall, which was your natural side before you became a bi-lateral breather. And I honestly can't remember. Sometimes when I'm swimming I try to detect little clues...slight comforts or reflexes...that might give me some indication.
The only thing I remember about being taught and learning to breathe properly...but not necessarily bi-laterally...was to imaging a rod at water level running through my head, through my body and to my toes, and to rotate around that. So when you go to breath on your un-natural side concentrate on that and it may help you with the coordination.
Dan
As a bilateral breather all I can tell you is that it just takes lots and lots of just doing it. I've been bi-lat breathing for years...decades...and I can't say that there is any one thing you can do that just suddenly makes it happen and feel natural. Just time. And then after a long long while you might find yourself wondering, unable to recall, which was your natural side before you became a bi-lateral breather. And I honestly can't remember. Sometimes when I'm swimming I try to detect little clues...slight comforts or reflexes...that might give me some indication.
The only thing I remember about being taught and learning to breathe properly...but not necessarily bi-laterally...was to imaging a rod at water level running through my head, through my body and to my toes, and to rotate around that. So when you go to breath on your un-natural side concentrate on that and it may help you with the coordination.
Dan
