Most people go through life, feeling stressed, anxious, sick, and filled with anger. They have no idea that the one thing that can help control all of that is something they carry inside of their bodies. Their breath. Deep breathing is essential to mindfulness.
Our breath can calm us in the most extraordinary situations.
The military uses breathing techniques to teach control during training. There are stories of people who have come through the most horrific experiences only because they controlled their emotions with their breath. They were able to focus on how to get themselves out of a situation, instead of panicking.
If you’ve ever watched a baby breathe, you will see that their belly rises and falls. When we are born, our default breathing technique is to breathe deeply. As we grow, we somehow think of our breathing as only a bodily function and stop giving it our focus.
The following are only a few of the benefits and facts of breathing deeply:
- Deep breathing releases 70% of all toxins in our bodies. Fewer toxins, less sickness.
- Neurotransmitters serotonin is released into your bloodstream when you breathe deeply. Serotonin is responsible for giving you a feeling of happiness.
- Deep breathing cleanses your blood and removes lactate. Lactate is responsible for our feelings of anxiety.
- Deep breathing will lower blood pressure and pulse rate.
- Remember above when I mentioned the military? Deep breathing helps you to keep a clear mind, promotes clarity, and keeps you focused.
- For those with chronic pain, deep breathing can help release that pain and is one thing I do to help with my Lupus.
- Deep breathing will regulate your emotions. It helps you to eliminate being reactive in emotionally charged situations.
You can see how important it is for us as adults to learn to teach ourselves to breathe as we did when we were babies. It is even more essential for us to teach our children to keep this breathing as they grow.
Your mindfulness challenge for the week is to learn to breathe from your belly.
Sit in a chair with your feet on the floor.
Place one palm of your hand on your chest while the other palm rests on your belly.
Take a normal breath, then see which hand moves.
If your top hand moves, you are a shallow breather. If your bottom hand moves, you are a belly breather, congratulations!
If you are a shallow breather, you need to practice belly breathing.
To do this, reach around behind you and clasp your hands together to open your chest area.
Take a deep breath through your nose, counting to five as you breathe in. Your belly should move outward.
Hold your breath for three seconds, then release.
Once you are aware of how it feels, you no longer will need to place your hands behind your back. You will be able to practice this anytime and anywhere until it becomes a habit.
Initially, you need to practice this several times a day for about a minute each time. As you get better, increase your time. The goal is to do this for twenty minutes, three times a day.
Remember, when you feel anxious or stressed to recognize that and use this time to practice your deep breathing.
Remember, it takes 21 days to make a habit. It no time at all, you can train yourself to breathe deeply automatically. You will learn to take a deep breath before responding to things that would normally upset you. You will feel happier and healthier.
If you are interested in further reading about how breathing affects our bodies, check out: The Breathing Book: Good Health and Vitality Through Breath Work and The Oxygen Advantage: The Simple, Scientifically Proven Breathing Techniques For a Healthier, Slimmer, Faster and Fitter You.
Don’t forget to check out the other articles published this past week: How I Transformed My Health, My Journey With Lupus, How I Transformed My Health, My Five Healthy Tips
Happy Breathing!
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