Do you know how to breathe?
Our breathing technique is extremely important to oxygenate our body and brain in an optimal way. In general we breath about 1000 times an hour, without even thinking about it. Luckily, otherwise we would not be alive or read this on Steemit either ;)
Many of us have a breathing with great potential for improvement. By sometimes focusing on how we breathe, we can have major positive effects on our health.
Some benefits of improving your breathing
- Better sleep
- Less stress and anxiety
- Better concentration and focus
- More energy
Me breathing in central Stockholm, Sweden.
Ways to improve your breathing
Why not try one of these right now? :)
1. Breathe in your nose
It's common to breathe through the mouth. Try to breathe in and out through your nose instead. The nose warms and moisturizes the air, it also filters a lot of bacteria and particles in the air. It's more gentle for the lungs and less risk of getting sick. The hardcore ones may even put a little tape on their mouth before sleep to breathe with the nose, it can be a bit unpleasant but effective ;)
2. Expand your belly and chest
Another common mistake is to suck the stomach in when breathing in or try to hold it in to look thinner. Often unconsciously, which leads to a more shallow breath. Let your breath be deep so that the stomach and chest expands - on the inhale. The deep breath can gives us about ten times more oxygen. Bye bye to the tight jeans and bra!
3. Take it slowly
Slow down your breathing, especially the exhalation. This activates our parasympatic nervous systems which makes us calmer. Breathe rhythmically and calmly.
Two examples
Since I started my education to Stress and Relaxation coach I've become aware of the big potential in our breathing. At Christmas I held a breathing exercise with my family, and my 85 year old grandpa realized that he not even once had reflected over his breathing tecnique. For the first time he could fill his entire lungs with air and let the chest and stomach expand fully.
A 45 year old woman I met realized that she had breathing in an exhausting way her whole life without even knowing that it could feel in other ways. That was why she had such a hard time doing any type of cardio until now.
And this is SO common.
Imagine if we could learn breathing tecnique in school? That's something I want to work for.
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<3 Moa
Nice post! Breathing is sooo important and I know im guilty of shallow fast breathing all the time. :/
Have you ever heard of alternate- nostril breathing- I learned it in my yoga practice and it's really quite lovely for relaxation
Thank you! It's good that you are aware of it!
Yes I have tried it some times, like it a lot and also think it's calming! :D
I absolutely love it, even though it makes you look like a crazy person in public or on the bus ;)
Haha wonderful! ;)
Excellent point why don't we teach breathing in school? Why not for physical Ed just 2 minutes a day of attentive breathing? It seems like that would benefit both students and instructors with much lower stress. Thanks for your post, I don't think I've ever learned a new meditation without the instructor first beginning with a simple breathing exercise- so important and easy to overlook!
That would be soo good! A great habit for the rest of the life :)
Thank you!
Thank you for sharing this wellness information to us coach. Glad something like this can be read here at Steemit.
Thank you, I'm glad you liked it :)
Thanks for the tip coach. I often want my tummy too look flatter, so i don't want to expand it too much whiles breathing.
Thanks! It's so common. Let the tummies be free! :D
Breathwork is indeed powerful stuff! Have you heard about the Wim Hof method? It combines yoga, breathwork, meditation and cold exposure into a practice very beneficial to both your physical and mental health. Here's an introduction video:
Varme hilsen fra Norge :-)
Oh I think the Wim Hof method is sooo interesting! I have tried some of his exercises and watched a documentary about the method, but want to learn more! Do you use to practice it?
I like your blog, now following you!
Varma hälsningar från grannen i Sverige ;)
(Btw great video!)
Yeah, but I've not gotten to the part of extreme cold exposure yet. I'm currently at 10 min cold showers, but even that does wonders for my health. Better immune responses, better focus and more energy.
Followed you too. Looking forward to see more content. Impressive formatting, images and poses. ;-)
Nice! Good job with the 10 minute showers, amazing results! Inspires me to try more of the method :)
Thank you :D
Breathing is the most important thing to do! Love this article! Since I learned the importance of taking long deep breaths my life has changed! :)
Thank you! You have such a good point! I'm glad to hear that you have experienced the amazing benefits of improving your breathing :)
Moa @givemeyoursteem
I like your photo, while you breathing in central Stockholm, Sweden. You look so beautiful and peacefulness. 😍
Oh thank you dear!! It was very peaceful <3
That is really interesting lesson I have learned today. We are not aware of this breathing phenomenon. It is just going on. But giving little extra concentration might bring some positive changes in our body and mind!!
Really helpful post. Keep up.
Thank you very much! You are so right! :)
Cool post :) for anyone that snores, you lack oxygen in the brain & this can lead to all sorts of dysfunctions & dis-ease in old age. you must breath in through nose & direct/guide the breath to the brain (10 rounds of breath each day). If you keep practicing this breathing technique, you will eventually not snore & your partner will be very happy :)
Interesting! Thank you for sharing :)
welcome
I practice my breathing every evening before I go to sleep. It helps a lot. :)
That's great!! I'm glad to hear :)
my doctor.does not breathing normal makes someone look old?
Interesting question! I'm not sure, maybe in an indirect way if you get more tired and stressed. My teacher told me about some cases where you can see that the chest may fold slightly inward at some people because their chest never expands fully if they have been dysfunctionally breathing for a very long time. Also their muscles between the ribs can get to tight.
Cool post! Gave you a follow. I wrote a post about bowing which includes this kind of technique. Check it out!
Thank you! Now following you to, will check out your post :)
Good information - might breathing reduce hypertension?
Thank you! Yes to breathe slowly can help lower the blood pressure :)
Thanks for the advice.. I just noticed my comment should have read something like '*certain kinds of breathing' reduce hypertension or raise one's blood pressure. but I'm glad you understood me correctly haha. I wasn't here holding my breath expecting to live longer;-)
Haha yes then it would be hard to grow old ;)
Thank you for sharing. I've heard bout importance of breathing before but was nice to read a bit more detailed :)
Thank you for your comment! I'm glad you liked it :)
I need this! I think my posture is bad and maybe I am also not breathing correctly. Thanks for your post.
I'm glad you like it, hope it will work good for you :)
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Take it slow. Agreed. Love meditation and yoga. Good advice here. Thanks.