Proper Breathing Techniques
What’s Wrong With The Way I Breathe?
Breathing is a function that most of us take for granted. Whoever stops to stand and think about the way he breathes? Yet learning to breathe correctly is a technique that is essential to good health. It is a skill more than mere respiration demands.
Breathing techniques can be very specialized. Swimmers need to learn it and so do divers. People with asthma benefit from learning proper breathing techniques as do people who have a tendency to hyperventilate.
We all know that oxygen is the most vital nutrient for our bodies. Poor oxygen affects all parts of the body, but more so the brain. So if oxygen is critical to our well being, it makes sense to know that proper breathing techniques are all important too.
Don’t We All Know How To Breathe?
Yes, even the newborn infant right out of its mother’s womb knows how to gulp in air. It is automatic, spontaneous and involuntary. We are not even aware that we are breathing. But imagine that you are anxious or terrified or have been running a few kilometers and you will at once become aware of the effort it takes to breathe.
Some people breathe through their chest and some through their diaphragm. The diaphragm is the large muscle that separates the lung from your abdomen. Proper breathing technique suggests that diaphragmatic breathing is better. To test whether you are a diaphragmatic or chest breather do this simple exercise. Sit up straight and relax your shoulders. Then rest one hand on your chest and one on your stomach. Take a deep breath and watch the movement of your hands. If the one on your chest moves, you are a chest breather and if the hand on your diaphragm moves you are a diaphragmatic breather.
Yoga plays a lot of importance to breathing techniques. The set of breathing exercises, called pranayama involves much more than relaxing exercises through breathing techniques. Although it is not in the scope of this article to discuss the various techniques used in pranayama, it is beneficial to know that correct use of these techniques can heal many diseases.
So How Do I Breathe?
The first rule is breathe through your nose, not your mouth. Although it seems obvious, you would be surprised to know how many people have faulty breathing habits. Most of the time, although we are unaware of it, we are either breathing too quickly or too slowly. We do not take in sufficient oxygen or expel sufficient carbon oxide. As a result toxins build up in our bodies and we begin to get deprived of the rightful quantity of oxygen.
We need to breathe slowly, deeply and with a regular rhythm. Modern day living hampers the quality of breathing because of several reasons. We are forever in a hurry, are easily excitable and get angry at the drop of a hat. Stressful jobs and sedentary lifestyles do nothing to better it.
Breathing correctly will do wonders for you. It will improve the quality of blood in your bloodstream due to increased oxygenation in the lungs. Your digestion will improve and so will the health of your nervous system, brain and spinal cord. Weight control, rejuvenation of pituitary and pineal glands, clear skin, a stronger heart and a relaxed body and mind are the other benefits of proper breathing techniques.
So don’t hold your breath ….get started.
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