Want to feel better? Control stress? Reduce blood pressure? Think more clearly? Then learn how to breathe correctly!
Breathing is a function that we don’t think about it. It is automatic and it is controlled by the respiratory center of the brain. We take about 19,000 breaths per day. Breathing allows us to exchange gases. Our cells require oxygen to survive and the body must expel the waste product, carbon dioxide.
Although it is automatic, we can change how we breathe.
Why Correct Breathing Is Important
Correct breathing can help us manage stress and stress-related conditions by soothing the autonomic nervous system.
The lungs must stay inflated for us to breathe. There is a large muscle underneath the lungs called the diaphragm. When we breathe, the diaphragm contracts and relaxes. This action produces a change in pressure allowing air to be brought into the lungs during inhalation and pushed out of the lungs during exhalation. There are intercostal muscles between the ribs that help to change the pressure by lifting and relaxing the rib cage in rhythm with the diaphragm. The diaphragm requires the use of the lower abdominals. If your abdomen moves gently in and out while you are breathing, then you are breathing correctly.
The brain sets the breathing rate according to the amount of carbon dioxide, not the amount of oxygen. A person that is under stress or is anxious usually takes small, shallow breaths and does not use their diaphragm properly to move air in and out of the lungs. This form of breathing releases a lot of carbon dioxide from the blood and thereby upsets the balance of gases. This type of breathing, called hyperventilation, can prolong feelings of anxiety by producing chest tightness, fatigue, faintness and light-headedness, a sense of panic, headaches, heart palpitations, insomnia, muscle aches or twitches, and numbness or tingling to the face or extremities.
On the other hand, when a person is relaxed, their breathing is slow, even and gentle. A relaxed breathing pattern calms the autonomic nervous system. This type of breathing can lead to lowered blood pressure and heart rate, a decreased amount of stress hormones, reduced lactic acid accumulation in the muscles, improved immune functions, increased energy, balanced levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide and a feeling of well being.
How to Breathe Properly
Shift from upper chest breathing to abdominal breathing. This is breathing that involves expanding the belly so that the lungs have enough room to take in more oxygen.
So how do you breathe using your abdomen? Sit or lie comfortably and raise your ribcage to expand your chest. Place one hand on your chest and one hand on your abdomen. Try to breathe in gently through your nose. You should feel the hand on your abdomen push against your hand. When you breathe out do so using pursed lips. Tighten your abs and let them fall inward. The hand on your chest should be as still as possible. Try doing this three times a day for 5-10 minutes and slowly increase that amount. Over time, this should become automatic.
When you feel yourself becoming stressed, stop, take in deep breaths through your nose and exhale through your lips. This will help you to remain calm and prevent the stress from overcoming you.
Anyone can learn to breathe a better way. By doing so, you will find yourself feeling better, calmer and less stressed.
http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Deep-Breathing-Methods-How-Breathing-Reduces-Stress . Is The Way You Breath Bad For Your Health? Brenda Stockdale, Healing Body and Mind, November 1, 2011.
