Why You Should Try Deep Breathing Exercises
It is the belief of many cultures from
around the world that the process of breathing is the absolute essence
of being. A continual cycle of expanding and contracting, breathing is
an example of the constant polarity that is so present in nature, much
like wake and sleep, day and night, growth and decay, and life and
death.
Unlike other bodily functions, breathing is
used to help us communicate between each of these dichotomies, which
makes it a fantastic tool for facilitating positive change in our lives,
whether we're doing it voluntarily or involuntarily.
Breathing consciously can actually be used to influence some of the
sympathetic nervous system's functions, such as the regulation of blood
pressure, digestion, heart rate, circulation, and much more. As such,
breathing exercises act as a bridge into bodily functions over which we
generally have little to no control.
When we become emotionally stressed, our
nervous system becomes stimulated, which ends up causing a few physical
reactions. We sweat, our heart rate increases, our breathing becomes
rapid and shallow, and our muscles tense up. If this occurs for an
extended period of time, our nervous s
unwanted symptoms. However, all of these can be reversed or prevented by
using deep breathing e xercises.
Training the Breathing Process
You can train breathing to affect both
positive and negative health influences. Being stressed can lead the
muscular and connective tissue in your chest to get restricted, which
will result in a decreased range of motion in your chest wall. Shallow
and rapid breathing causes the chest to expand less than it would with
deeper breaths, which results in 'chest breathing'.
To find out if you are a chest breather simply place your left hand on
your abdomen and your right hand on your chest. Take a few breaths in
and out and see which hand rises the highest. If your left-hand rise the
most, then you are an abdomen breather, however, if it is your right
hand which rises highest, then that means that you're a chest breather.
Chest breathing is not efficient since most of the blood flow ends up
taking place in the lungs' lower lobes, areas which only have limited
air expansion for chest breathers. This results in poor delivery of
nutrients to the tissues and less oxygen transfer to the blood.
Luckily, similar to learning to ride a bicycle or play a guitar, you can
actually train your body to improve its breathing technique. By
practicing regularly, you'll be able to make your body utilize abdomen
breathing most of the time, even while you sleep.
The Great Benefits of Abdominal Breathing
Abdominal breathing is frequently also
called diaphragmatic breathing. Your diaphragm is a huge muscle that can
be found between the abdomen and chest. While contracting it is pushed
downwards, which results in the abdomen expanding, and forcing air into
the lungs. At the same time, blood is pumped into the chest, which
improves blood flow to the heart, strengthening the immune system and
boosting physical stamina.
By making use of abdominal breathing, you will also increase the flow of
lymph in your body, which will help prevent lung-based infection and
other respiratory illnesses. Additionally, you will also be constantly
stimulating your body's relaxation mechanism, resulting in a greater
overall sense of well-being.
How to Perform Breathing Exercises
You should try and practice this breathing
exercise at least once a day, especially if you are suffering from
physical or emotional pain:
1. Place one hand on your abdomen and the other on your chest.
2. Exhale through your mouth as usual, then take a slow and deep breath
through your nose. Imagine you are trying to absorb all of the air in
the room. Hold it for 7 seconds.
3. Exhale slowly through your mouth for up to 8 seconds. While the air
is being released, gently contract your abdominal muscles to remove any
remaining air from the lungs.
4. Repeat this cycle another 4 times, for a total of 5 deep breaths.
This shouldn't take you more than a minute to complete.
Abdominal breathing is only one of many different kinds of breathing
exercises that can help improve your quality of life. However, it is the
basis of many other breathing techniques, so it would be best to master
it before try more advanced exercises.