It's the first thing we do when we are born, and the last thing we do as we die ... Breathing is our lifeforce. You can live without food for weeks, and water for days, but without oxygen you will die in a matter of minutes. Our bodies run on oxygen, the more oxygen you breath into your lungs, the more energy you will have!
Did you know...9 out of 10 adults in the United States are shallow breathers?? As babies we are born belly breathers, reaching breath deep into our lungs. Most people, including children don't even use 1/3 of their lungs. Shallow or chest breathing is usually associated with stress, anxiety, high blood pressure, and depression.
The Many Health and Healing Benefits of Deep Diaphragmatic Breathing:
- Brings more oxygen into the lungs enhancing your health
- Strengthens the immune system
- Reduces blood pressure
- Helps you to be calm and relaxed
- Improves your mood
- Reduces stress and tension
- Eliminates chronic fatigue
- Increases breathing capacity and stamina
- Increases metabolism
- Revitalizes and increases the body's energy (chi)
- Removes waste products (carbon dioxide) and toxins from the body
- Improves concentration and focus
- Helps health conditions such as asthma, allergies, headaches and chronic pain
- Helps you sleep better
- It's anti aging
Diaphragmatic breathing is also very beneficial for the skin! It increases lymphatic drainage, which helps to detoxify and helps in combating and reducing cellulite. It also helps you to destress, so you hold less tension in you face, which helps to reduce fine lines and wrinkles
As you can see, diaphragmatic breathing has a HUGE impact on how our body functions. There's medical evidence that air and oxygen play a vital role not only in staying healthy but preventing, treating, and eliminating diseases. So, if you want a healthy body full of energy, deep diaphragmatic breathing is key!
"Improper breathing is a common cause of ill health. If I had to limit my advice on healthier living to just one tip, it would be simply to learn how to breath correctly. There's no single more powerful - or more simple - daily practice to further your health and well-being than breathwork." ~ Andrew Weil, M.D.
ANTI AGING SECRET: Yoga is wonderful for healing, health, and vitality, and offers miraculous anti aging benefits! Pranayama (breath control) is the breathing technique taught in yoga that increases physical and psychological perfomance! I discovered a great YOGA site that not only has 100's of yoga and pilate videos and DVD's, but has every yoga accessory imaginable and the lowest prices on the internet! This site really is worth checking out!
NOTE: For a demonstration on breathing techniques view the video below
