By:Lorraine Ereira..
We all do it, all day, every day. Even while we sleep. In
fact we never ever stop doing it. If we did we would die. But do we ever think
about it? Do we realise just how much of an impact it has on our bodies, our
minds and our overall health?
It is the simple act of respiration. That’s right –
breathing! Believe it or not, there are different ways to breathe, which have
different effects on the body and our health. But let’s just take a look at
two. Nose breathing which induces relaxation, calm, and improves health, and
the other mouth breathing, which most of us do by default, because of the lives
we lead, which contributes to many health concerns like elevated blood pressure
and an increase in resting heart rate.
I would like to share with you an extract from my latest
book Sports Pattern Release™. In this extract I explain how breathing effects
the human body. I will then offer you a simple breathing technique to support
better health.
“Breathing is something that is all too often overlooked but
is of the utmost importance in correct biomechanical function. The human body
will sacrifice everything to maintain respiratory function and this includes
posture. Nasal breathing is the way we are pre-programmed to breathe and mouth
breathing is triggered by stress. Interestingly, when posture is poor, it is
easier to breathe through the mouth and harder to breathe nasally. The reverse
is also true, illustrating the close relationship between breathing and
posture. Additionally, mouth breathers often breathe much less deeply, only
using the upper chest, whereas nose breathers tend to use the diaphragm making
full use of the lungs, oxygenating the blood and brain. If the diaphragm
becomes inhibited through poor posture, stress or bad habits, the accessory
inhibitory muscles will overwork, becoming overactive, leading to trigger
points and chronic tension.
“There are many different yoga breathing exercises.
Pranayama breathing, which is the practice of voluntary breath control, when
practised slowly has been shown to have positive effects on immune function,
hypertension, asthma, autonomic nervous system imbalances and psychological or
stress-related disorders. It has been hypothesised that voluntary slow deep
breathing functionally resets the autonomic nervous system. Investigations have
demonstrated that slow pranayama breathing techniques activate the
parasympathetic (inhibitory) nervous system. This type of breathing employed
with deep stretching will have a combined effect on stimulating parasympathetic
activity while concurrently decreasing sympathetic activity. This will lower
the heart rate, blood pressure and induce relaxation”.
So by simply working on our breathing technique we can
induce better health both physiologically and mentally.
Try this exercise for a few minutes each day..
Either lie down or sit with a lengthened spine, to open the
airways fully. Close your eyes and your mouth and place your hands on your
belly and inhale slowly and deeply through your nose feeling your belly rise as
you do. Now move your hands to the base of your ribs and continue the
inhalation into the mid-section of your lungs and feel your ribcage expand
laterally. Lastly move your hands to your upper chest breathe into the top of
the lung and feel the chest rise. Hold that breath for a moment, before very
slowly exhaling from the top, then the middle and lastly form the base of your
lungs. Do this for at least five minutes. Try to focus on this and think of
nothing else; give it your full attention. Take note of how you feel after this
exercise.
The more you practice the deeper your breathing will become
and the more benefits you will achieve. And the best thing? It’s totally free!!
Source:wakeup-world.com
