In our busy lives, it is too easy to neglect our health moving from one thing to the next. Fortunately, breathing can be practiced anytime, anywhere, and requires no special equipment, making it easy to incorporate into daily life.

How will training your breath help you?

• Improved relaxation

  •  Breath training helps to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for relaxation and stress reduction. This can alleviate anxiety in stressful situations.

• Improved energy

  • Diaphragm breathing is more efficient than breathing with your chest.
    • Taking longer “belly breaths” increases the amount of oxygen your body can use for energy rate.

• Improved blood flow and digestion

  • The idea of the rhythmic muscle pump. When you contract your calf muscle, the blood in the vessels that run through and around that muscle shoot back to the heart along with lymphatic fluids.
    • When you breathe taking large intentional breaths you increase your blood flow and lymphatic recycling.

• Lower blood pressure

  • Nasal breathing improves hypertension in a study compared with mouth-breathing participants.

Breathing with your diaphragm – “Belly Breathing”

• To get started, lie down or sit comfortably, pin your shoulders back with a big chest, and place one hand on your belly and one on your chest.
• Think about filling your belly with air while smelling the roses. Next blow on a cup of hot coffee while thinking about bringing your belly button inward towards your spine.

Nasal versus mouth breathing

• Nasal breathing releases vasodilators such as nitrous oxide naturally to improve blood flow and thus delivery of oxygen.
• Nasal breathing protects your lungs from dirt, bacteria, and other particulates in the air because of the sinuses and mucous membranes in your nose.
  • Think about smelling the roses and avoid mouth breathing.

Breathing rate 

• Studies show a slow and deeper breathing rate activates the parasympathetic nervous system and relaxes the body.
  •  A breathing rate of 6 to 10 breaths has been recommended to begin slow breathing.
• Taking a fast and shallow cadence when breathing is inefficient and will make your body feel stressed.

Posture

• Avoid rounded shoulders and forward head.
• Sit up straight with your shoulders back and take a deep breath through your stomach.
  • Now do the same breath hunched over with a forward head and shoulders.
  • You should notice that it is easier to breathe in with a better posture.
    • • • This is because when you hunch over you reduce the capacity for your lungs to inflate.

When should you implement a breathing practice?

• Anytime throughout the day, think about your posture, breathing depth, and breathing rate.
  • Breathing practice is easy to implement, take a 5-minute break from work and focus on nasal breathing, posture, and diaphragm breathing
  • Regular diaphragmatic breathing has been shown to improve sleep quality and improve the speed at which people fall asleep.
    • When you sleep, focus on your breathing and clear your mind from the distractions of the day.

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I’m Carter Gansky, a fitness and health advocate and a Doctor of Physical Therapy in training. I explore the strategies and tools that help us live motivating, healthier, and more fulfilling lives. 

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Resources

• Russo, M. A., & Santarelli, D. M. (2017). The physiological effects of slow breathing in the healthy human. Breathe, 13(4), 298-309. https://doi.org/10.1183/20734735.009817
• Mendes, Liliane Patrícia De Souza et al. “Influence of posture, sex, and age on breathing pattern and chest wall motion in healthy subjects.” Brazilian journal of physical therapy vol. 24,3 (2020): 240-248. doi:10.1016/j.bjpt.2019.02.007
• Kalaivani S, Kumari MJ, Pal GK. Effect of alternate nostril breathing exercise on blood pressure, heart rate, and rate pressure product among patients with hypertension in JIPMER, Puducherry. J Educ Health Promot. 2019 Jul 29;8:145. doi: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_32_19. PMID: 31463330; PMCID: PMC6691618.