How breathing better can improve your health
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How breathing better can improve your health
If breathing better is all it takes to improve health, shouldn’t we all be doing well? The simple act of breathing should be straightforward – we do it every day. But are we doing it right? In other words, could we be either helping or harming our health if breathing incorrectly?
Breathing for most of us, unless you have any type of congestion or illness, is such a natural part of living that we rarely give it much thought. But did you know every minute, humans take a breath anywhere from 12 to 20 times - or about 17,000 to 30,000 times a day or more.
Even if you believe you breathe just fine, it’s possible you could be missing out on how your breathing is impacting your health. Let’s take a look at four ways of use breathing techniques to improve both your physical and mental health.
1. Better breathing for muscle tension relief
Few of us have not experienced muscle tension, whether in our back, neck, shoulders, or any other part of our bodies. Have you ever considered how you breathe could be making it worse? Here’s a breathing technique to try first thing in the morning right after you get out of bed. Practice it several times day to help minimize muscle tension:
· Stand up straight and bend forward at the waist. Bend knees slightly, letting your arms hang limply, close to the floor.
· Inhale slowly and deeply, and return to a standing position by slowly rolling your body up, lifting your head last.
· Exhale slowly as you return to your original position.
· Stretch your muscles a little and repeat.
2. Breathing for side pain
Intense side pain also known as a side stitch, typically occurs in people who run or exercise vigorously. Side stitches are basically diaphragm spasms, and like other types of muscle cramps, are thought to occur from the strain associated with the accelerated breathing from exercise. The good news is, the better you get at exercising, the less likely you will experience debilitating side cramps.
But to prevent them from happening in the first place, practice deep belly breathing while running. This reduces the stress on the supporting ligaments of the diaphragm and can help relive side stitches. Belly breathing means you are using your stomach instead of your chest to breathe. Chest breathing is associated with shallow breathing, while belly breathing is associated with deep, productive breathing.
To learn how to belly breathe, simply lie down on the floor and place a hand on your belly. Breathe deeply. If you feel your hand rise and fall slightly with your breathing, then you are doing it correctly. If your chest is moving instead of your stomach, you are not breathing deeply enough and need to adjust.
Next time you are running, be aware if you are belly breathing. Breathe deeply and every once in a while, take a very deep breath and forcefully exhale, pushing all your air out of your lungs. While you exhale, drop your shoulders, shake out your arms, and relax. Take another deep breath and continue running.
3. Breathing for increased energy
Forget caffeine for an energy boost. Why not try a stimulating breathing technique instead? Often used in yoga, this breathing exercise, also called “Bellows Breath,” stimulates the diaphragm signaling the body to become more alert. It’s described as being able to energize the body and clarify the mind.
Here’s how to do it: Sit up tall and relax your shoulders. Keep your mouth closed and inhale rapidly through your nose with quick, short breaths (exhale quickly as well). Try doing that for about 10 seconds. Take a 15-30 second break and breathe normally. Repeat several times.
4. Breathing for relaxation
When stressed out, don’t forget to breathe but be sure to do it right. Stress happens and when it does, to effectively combat it reducing its harmful effects, its vital to activate your body’s natural relaxation response. This response is a physical state of deep rest that changes the physical and emotional responses to stress by reducing heart rate, blood pressure, rate of breathing and muscle tension.
To active the natural relaxation technique, practice focused, abdominal breathing. Abdominal breathing increases the supply of oxygen to your brain and stimulates the nervous system, causing a state of calmness.
When practiced 20 to 30 minutes each day, focused breathing can work wonders in reducing stress and anxiety. The point of focused breathing is to feel connected to your body, being present and aware of your worries drifting away.