Fresh Air – Step number 6 to a Happier Life
The human body can survive 3 weeks without food, 3 days without water, but only 3 minutes without air, and yet breathing is something we generally give very little thought too.
Breathing properly can have a huge impact on our overall health and wellbeing, and it can be used as a tool to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety.
Or breathing uses processes to bring oxygen to every cell of our body. Our body needs oxygen to obtain energy to fuel all our living functions.
The nose is built with a specific purpose, to support our respiratory system. The primary purpose of the mouth, on the other hand, is to start the digestive process. Nasal breathing filters allergens and foreign bodies from entering the lungs and adds moisture and warmth to the air we inhale. On the other hand, mouth breathing is linked to a number of health conditions such as sleep problems, tooth decay and learning difficulties.
Breathing is the most important way our body regulates our nervous system and our health. If you watch babies breathe, they only breathe in their belly and through their nose. That is because they have not been overtaken by the daily stresses that start as soon as kids enter school age.
Our breathe is also an indicator to our body of what state we’re in.
So, for example, you are breathing short and sharp breathes because you’re sitting in a panic at your desk on a tight deadline at work with no idea how you’re going to complete your tasks…
That shallow breathing signals your body that you’re in stress, which signals your brain to produce cortisol, which is used to prepare you for the ‘fight or flight’ mode.
Constant production of cortisol through stress and anxiety in the brain over a long period of time is what causes the chemical imbalance we know today as ‘depression’.
How we feel can affect our breathing
Unfortunately, increased anxiety, tension and stress in our lives can lead to more rapid and shallow breathing (also known as chest breathing). When we do this, we do not fully engage our diaphragm and instead we overuse our neck, chest and shoulder muscles which can lead to pain, tightness and headaches.
But we can also use breathing to affect how we feel
By engaging in deliberate diaphragmatic breathing throughout the day we can get our fight and flight to switch off and our rest and digest to switch on. This allows our body to renew, restore and rebalance itself.
The best way to try these breathing exercises at home is to:
- Either sit comfortably on a chair or with legs crossed or lie down on your back with your knees bent
- Place your hands on the sides of your lower ribcage
- Breathe in slowly and deeply through your nose. You should feel your hands moving apart/pushing out to the side of your body
- Make sure your upper chest is not rising thereby ensuring you are using your diaphragm and not your accessory muscles (i.e. neck and chest muscles)
- Breathe in through your nose for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds and breath out gently for 4 seconds – do not force the air out. Keep your breathing slow and controlled and make sure to keep your belly relaxed
Diaphragmatic breathing offers several benefits to your body including:
- Helping you relax
- Improving muscle function during exercises and preventing strain
- Increasing how much oxygen is in your blood
- Making it easier for your body to release gas waste from your lungs
- Reducing blood pressure
- Reducing heart rate
- Managing stress effectively
- Improving focus
- Better sleep
I am almost at the end of my 8 Step to Happiness series and I hope you are loving it and using some of the tips and techniques that I have given to you.
If you need more detailed tools to create the life of your dreams, then please view our offerings.
Yours in kindness,
Taz
