Work on Your Breathing, Change Your Life
The way you control your breathing can have a huge difference in your quality of life.
We all breathe more than 20,000 times each day without even realizing, however, the way you control your breathing can have a huge difference in your quality of life. If you have any health concerns and are ready to make lifestyle changes, your first port of call may be to go on a diet or incorporate regular exercise into your routine, but focusing on your breathing can help lower blood pressure and reduce stress levels.
With that in mind, here are a few different ways in which your life can be changed by changing your breathing.
Reduces Anxiety
How you are breathing will have a direct effect on the mood you are in. If you are feeling calm and content, your breathing will be slower, longer, and even, whereas if you feel tense and anxious, your breathing will be much faster and shallower. Breathing in a panicky and rapid manner can only make the situation worse and cause your anxiety to spiral out of control. Whether you’re facing troubles at work, with your partner, or worrying about money, there are various breathing techniques that you can use which should help reduce your anxiety.
Lowers Stress
Regardless of the lifestyle you lead, feeling stressed from time to time is inevitable. When you take into account that chronic stress can lead to depression, cardiovascular disease, and increase your risk of a heart attack, it’s important that you focus on your breathing to keep stress levels down and help you feel more positive and upbeat. While many people turn towards yoga and meditation to reduce stress, deep belly breathing is one of the best techniques you can use. Deep belly breathing can increase your supply of oxygen, relax muscle spasms, relieve tension, and increase the supply of nutrients and blood in your body.
Stimulate Brain Growth
If you enjoy meditating, controlling your breathing throughout this relaxation technique can help to stimulate brain growth. According to a Harvard study conducted in 2005, those who focus their attention on their breath have the capacity to boost their critical thinking skills. Controlled breathing during meditation can also increase the size of your brain. Whether you work long hours at the office or you’re running a busy household, it’s vital that you stay in control, so trying out deep breathing exercises can boost your attention span and strengthen your brain.
Lower Blood Pressure
1 in 4 adults across the world suffer from high blood pressure, and this can increase their chances of having a stroke, heart attack, and experiencing heart failure. If you want to avoid falling into this statistic, you may have made several lifestyle changes already such as changing your diet, but you can also benefit from trying out deep breathing exercises. Taking a few minutes out of your day to practice slow and deep breaths can help contribute towards lowering your blood pressure. Deep breaths can help you feel more telexed and temporarily dilate blood vessels too.
Improves Your Sleep
We all know how important it is to a get a good night’s sleep for our mental and physical wellbeing. No matter what is on the agenda the next day, getting enough shuteye will help you feel more focused and alert, so if your mind is full of stress and anxious thoughts, trying out the 4-7-8 breathing technique can aid sleep and improve your mood. There are various reasons why your sleep may be affected, so if you are known to snore, learning how to stop sleeping with your mouth uncomfortably open can help too.
Many of us take our breathing for granted, and if you lead a hectic schedule and find your stress and anxiety levels out of control, working on your breathing and trying out different techniques can help you feel calmer and more relaxed.
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