Breathe Deeply

The breath regulates all the chemical and biological functions of the body and is essential to the health and wellbeing of every cell in your body and every living thing on this planet.

By Emily Rack

Learning to breathe more effectively will help you to live longer, get smarter and feel a whole lot healthier. Better breathing means your brain and your body will function better and you will reduce your risk of organ disease, cancer, irritable bowel syndrome and chronic inflammatory ailments like arthritis.

There is a myriad of research that proves concentrated breathing practices can have life-changing effects on your health and happiness and also the way you live your life. A simple and effective breathing exercise that is proven to increase blood flow and oxygen to the brain, lower your blood pressure and boost your metabolism is the simple exercise of diaphragmatic breathing.

Find out more inforamtion from these links on how your breath can heal your body, boost your metabolism and help you to live longer.
https://www.npr.org/2010/12/06/131734718/just-breathe-body-has-a-built-in-stress-reliever
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5455070/

Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercise

Put both your hands on the sides of your rib cage and begin breathing naturally in and out, like you would normally. You should feel your rib cage expanding in and out as air fills the lungs and as you breathe back out.
For most of us, our chest will also move up and down in a vertical action as the muscles in your chest and ribs pull up to expand the ribcage. This is called chest breathing or thoracic breathing and is, in fact, a dysfunctional way to breathe.

If you move your hands from the sides of your ribs down a little bit and then in (where the ribs finish), there is a cavity. This is your diaphragm, a large dome-shaped muscle that sits underneath your lungs. This domed shaped muscle, which has a left and right dome, separates your upper respiratory system from the digestive system. When you breathe from here you allow for proper amounts of oxygen to be absorbed into the body.

1. Close your mouth and shut your eyes and begin to breathe in and out through your nose

2. Relax your shoulders and sit or stand straight

3. Using your hands as feedback place them over the diaphragm and take a slow breath in from here and let the ribs expand sideways and the stomach to relax and move out.

4. Then exhale and feel the diaphragm drop and the ribs come in. (There should not be an up and down motion to your breath)

5. Practice breathing in and out through the nose letting the breath move in and out of the body in a slow, calm and rhythmic way, Try breathing like this for 4 minutes letting the body fall deeper into relaxation with the breath.

6. As you breathe notice any tension you may hold in the body and let your breath gently dissolve it.

As you breathe in, let the stomach relax and move with the breath. As you inhale the belly will naturally expand and as you exhale it will naturally come in. This slow rhythmic pump will soothe your whole body. *Try adding a small pause at the end of the inhalation and after you exhale, take another small pause. Eventually, your exhalation should be longer than your inhalation.

*remember never to force your breath or gasp for air*

All rights reserved, Horatio’s Jar 2018

This article and the attachments are a general guide to better health and wellbeing.
This article and the attached content is not intended to replace medical advice.
If you are suffering from anxiety, depression or poor health we strongly advise you seek medical attention.
Copyright Horatio’s Jar 2018
All Rights Reserved

Breath Is The Best Medicine

We need oxygen to survive, and without enough of it, our brain and all our organs cannot function properly and our cells will begin to die.

Learning to breathe properly is essential for our health and wellbeing, breathing regulates our heart rate, influences the release of chemicals into the blood stream, removes toxins from the body and helps us to metabolise food and waste. 

The reality is nearly all of us do not breathe properly and don’t even know how to; it is just assumed that because breathing is an automatic function it does not need any real consideration.

The truth is overlooking the way you are breathing could be interfering with your health and happiness in a really big way, overtime the implications of poor breathing can be pretty scary, poor or latent breathing impacts every part of your body and can even lead to longer term health problems like organ damage and even stroke.

What Went Wrong?

Sitting down for long periods of time, poor posture, social habits and emotional stress all impact the way we breathe. Poor breathing habits inhibit our ability to relax which means; we cannot digest food properly, our cells can’t repair themselves, we feel tired, cranky and anxious, we get sick more often and eat more sugar. All of this loops back on itself to create a vicious cycle where poor respiration leads to poor health and bad habits.

Babies Breath

When we are little we know how to breathe correctly. If you have ever watched a baby breathing when they are sleeping you will notice their whole body shifts into a rhythmic pattern; you see on the inhalation the whole belly rises and on exhalation the whole belly falls. This is the natural rhythm of breathing and it fills the whole body with oxygen.

By the time out kids reach school age, proper breathing shifts from deep and rhythmic to short and shallow. It happens for a few different reasons which include; sitting down too much, social stigmas to hold the tummy in and the mimicking of behaviour from peers and parents. It also does not help that nearly all the adults in the world seem stressed and wound up.

The New Epidemic

We now know that poor breathing is a significant factor in exacerbating or even triggering anxiety and panic attacks. Short shallow breathing stimulates parts of the body and brain to function in a primitive way and holds you in a state of suspended anxiety.

Short shallow breathing is activating a part of your nervous system that keeps you alert, uptight and ready for the approach of any predators of threats. This means your body is constantly leaking adrenalin and other stimulants into your blood and brain, and like all steroids; will overtime corrode your bones and tissues. So there it is, poor breathing habits can really make you sick, and cortisol leakage is just the tip of the iceberg.

Better Late Than Never

The good news is, you have the ultimate tool to avoid these potential health problems, and is it right under your nose. Just by learning the art of better breathing you can significantly improve your health and wellbeing by; helping your organs to function properly, lowering your blood pressure and giving the body the help it needs to restore and repair itself naturally. When you breathe properly you will have more energy, sleep more peacefully, feel happier, get smarter and live longer.

This article and the attachments are a general guide to better health and wellbeing.
This article and the attached content is not intended to replace medical advice.
If you are suffering from anxiety, depression or poor health we strongly advise you seek medical attention.
Copyright Horatio’s Jar 2018
All Rights Reserved