Does anyone practice any specific breathing techniques they would care to share?

Experience with Sudarshan Kriya? or Bhastrika?

Pranayama: Prana is the life force, the breath. Ayama, to extend or draw out. So pranayama is "extension of the life force" or "extension of the breath".

Breathing techniques can be used to eliminates stress, fatigue and negative emotions. Not to mention make your meditations much better. What are some of your practices?

I like this post, Omni. Hopefully people will post some neat tricks.

I just breathe in slow and deep filling my belly first and then my chest. Then I exhale slowly letting out the air in my chest first and then my belly. It's a nice way to clear the mind before bedtime.

While scuba diving (a little tip an instructor told us) was to count the length of your breaths. Shoot for the count of four and work your way up. It saves air and extends your dive time. It also helps when you just need a little more oxygen in the blood stream.

When I meditate (or at least try to meditate) how I breath is not so important as what I'm imagining as I breath. First of all, my meditation-breathing is a standard "in through the nose and out through the mouth" method, and I do it very naturally (without a strict pace) for as long as I need to. As I do this, I imagine looking at the beach from high up the shore (because I hate being in the water, but it's nice to look at). I then imagine the sun rising from the left of my view, setting to the right of my view, and the whole day passing by before my eyes. My breaths are the tides going in and out. The whole experience can actually be quite realistic and engrossing. It works for me!

I like to use a breathing technique I first learned in Jujitsu. Military and law enforcement are also taught this technique that they call "tactical breathing" to control their heart rate in tactical/combat situations.

Inhale through your nose, deeply, expanding your stomach for a count of four.
Hold that breath in for a count of four.
Slowly exhale through your mouth, completely, contracting your stomach for a count of four.
Hold the empty breath for a count of four.

i have asthma so im trying to stop smokeing but id like to learn some Breathing Techniques that may help me be less dependent from my inhaler im aware i should still use it if i need to but im hopeful that the proper Breathing Techniques will in time make my lungs stronger so any help would be much appreciated

Unfortunately, breathing exercises alone won't really help fix much of anything. What I would recommend is pick any of the above that you feel is necessary. Reduce your exposure to your triggers as much as possible. Wear clothing that would be comfortable for exercise, and go exercise. Anything involving at least 3-4 hrs(NEVER ALL IN THE SAME DAY) of cardio a week will start to make improvements. Doing these things will help, sitting in a comfy chair and not exercising will only make things worse.

Oh and make sure to quit the smoking.

p.s. you may still need to use your inhaler when you exercise for a while.

source;
5 years experience as Navy Hospital Corpsman
I am not a medical expert. Any legitimate medical concerns should always be discussed with your physician.