Breathing is arguably the most important function in the human body. As I’m sure you know, if you go without it for only a few minutes you will lose consciousness.
So how does breathing affect your overall healthy and results??
Let’s start with how you breath…
Most people these days breath shallow as if they are afraid to allow their belly to do it’s job. Watch any baby breathe and see that it allows it’s abdomen to expand and contract with each breath.
Take this test right now…
– Place one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly.
– Take a huge breath in and notice which hand moves out further.
If the hand on your chest puffs out while the hand on your belly stays still, or even worse goes back, you are breathing in a way that your body will perceive as stressful.
If on the other hand, your belly moves out and your chest stays the same or slightly elevates then consider yourself a good breather.
There is a powerful reason why breathing is so important…
You see… your body is governed by 2 sides of the central nervous system, one called the sympathetic nervous system which regulates the “fight or flight” feeling and the other called the parasympathetic nervous system which regulates the “rest and digest” feelings.
Chest breathing (where your belly doesn’t expand) activates the sympathetic nervous system whereas belly breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system.
This means that if you spend your days “chest breathing” your body will constantly be in a state of mild stress. This is not good if you want to look, feel and perform your best!
To fix this, make the habit of spending 5 minutes a day practicing your breathing with one hand on your chest and one on your belly until you are able to feel that your belly is doing the majority of the expanding.
Then monitor yourself throughout the day by noticing if you are breathing relaxed (i.e. belly) or tense (i.e. chest) and proceed to correct yourself.
Once you are breathing in your belly spend the 5 minutes breathing while enjoying a walk outdoors.
This one little fix will give you more energy and make you feel much better throughout your days. But that’s not all… what about the actual air we breathe?
Being around polluted air is almost unavoidable these days, so instead of advising you to move to the forest, let’s take a look at the best type of air you can breathe.
Negative ions, are an electrically charged particle (atoms or molecules) that produce profound health benefits.
As an example, think about how you feel in a crowded space like a packed indoor concert. Although you may be enjoying the music the atmosphere leaves you feeling run down, you exit feeling as if you have a layer of filth on your skin, right???
Take the exact opposite situation… imagine the feeling you get when you walk outside after it rains, imagine the feelings you get when you are around a waterfall or at the beach, imagine the feeling of serenity you get when sitting around a campfire…
This feeling is regulated by the amount of negatively charged ions present in the air that you breathe.
So, instead of wearing a gas mask, try to put yourself in situations where you can breathe in the fresh air of the ocean, take in the crisp smell of the forest and shift your mood and your physiology through just the quality of the air you breathe.?
Better yet, take a walk outside in the morning dew, by the ocean, or in the forest and reap the benefits of breathing truly fresh air!
QUICK HABIT RECAP: The way we breathe affects our nervous system in such a way that it tells us if we are stressed or relaxed. Practice relaxed deep breathing for 5 minutes a day preferably in areas with fresh air (beaches, forests, parks etc.). You can learn this style of breathing by placing one hand on your chest and one on your belly as you practice breathing into your belly while your chest minimally inflates.?
Pretty cool info right? I mean, something you do every single day effects your body’s hormones and stress response! And… you can change it all just by breathing differently.
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