Well, it is one of the most basic and simplest thing we do everyday, every second. Somehow, most of us are doing this essential activity wrong. What does it mean ? Have you ever interrupted an ongoing process ? Well, the results aren’t as good as they could be right ? The same is happening with your breathing process right now. Find out why your breathing wrong and how to unlock the true power of breath !
Identify if your Breathing wrong
This one is pretty easy and we will find out in a couple easy steps take a moment to observe yourself.
How do you breathe ? Are you breathing through your mouth or your nose ? Is your belly moving or do your chest and shoulders move ? Do you take small or larger deeper breaths ? Do you usually tend to short breathing after little physical exposure ?
Have your answers ready, here is the right way
For proper breathing you should intake the oxygen through your nose, also your diaphragm, which makes your belly move and demands larger, deeper breaths. After little physical exposure you should breath as described before and not fall for short breathing.
Problems that come with it
When you breath with your mouth, you will become the victim of bad breath, dry mouth and bacteria & viruses in the air you breath.
Further, chest breathing will cause your shoulder to move up to a place where they don’t belong, because the volume of air building up in your chest, which is not the natural space of it, will cause the unnatural dislocation of your shoulders, that will result in neck & shoulder problems. For reference according to Dr. Artur Rakhimov 50 % of all adults suffer from upper chest short breathing, while resting.
If you already use your upper chest to breath and pare it with small breaths, your body will not be able to convert the incoming oxygen effectively, which means you have breath even smaller and faster to compensate the lack of oxygen.
Makes sense right ? Physical exposure short & fast breaths because your body needs air. Nope, what your body needs are long and sustainable breaths because if you think, in order to catch your breath to breathe like a dog, you will hurt your performance in the long run.
Benefits your missing out
The nose is made to breath, you will get the proper airflow, so if the wind hits you while breathing, not all the air flows automatically into your lungs, which would be the case for mouth breathing. Furthermore, the air intake will be filtered through the hair in your nose, so unwanted pollen, dust or bacteria are not entering your respiration easily. Another one, your lungs will work best if the air is moist and at body temperature, both your nose’s duties.
Well, if you breathe with your belly, your diaphragm is doing the job, it is a muscle below your lung, which when it contracts pulls air into your lungs logically by relaxing pushes the air out. Consequences for not using it are that your missing out on a lot muscle activity, which will shrink if unused, plus not be able to use the effective part of your lungs the bottom part, more below.
So you know, with small chesty breaths the lower part of you lungs are getting as good as no fresh air, unfortunately this area is 6-7 more effective in oxygen transport, due to gravity and its central position. The upper 10% transports 6 ml of oxygen per minute while the bottom 10% of your lungs do more than 40ml per minute. Not supplying the bottom part, will result in reduced cell oxygenation, which is home of all chronic diseases.
Therefore, the devils circle: Physical activity demands more oxygen, due to your already low cell oxygenation, you put your body into a position of disadvantage, where the lack of oxygen causes you to fatigue early on, raises your heart rate unnecessary & decreases your recovery.
Breathing & Mental Health
We explained your body is not getting the oxygen you need, guess what ? Your brain isn’t getting enough either !
The outcomes are constant or chronic stress, anxiety, problems to focus, depression and low quality of sleep.
For understanding, when your brain and nervous system don’t get enough oxygen, they will be under constant stress, as we all know stress does as good things for your body as smoking. Equally, the above outcomes are no surprise for a body with high stress levels.
Moreover, parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for restoring your energy system, as well as relaxation and regulating the body’s stress level. Not to mention, breathing with your diaphragm and lower lung area, stimulates the ,,PNS”, which will trigger a relaxational response in your body, leading to decrease in heart rate, blood pressure & respiratory rate, as well as decreasing muscle tension and stress hormones.
Chiefly, there is a serious link between wrong breathing and mental issues, which is no need to worry, because we will show you the way to fix it !
Master your Breathing
As we gave you enough material to read, we think a little video on how to master your breathing for optimal health is a good idea. We hope you will enjoy it !
How I did it
In my case I personally learned about my wrong breathing in a book called ,, Your too good to feel this bad”, whereas it inspired me to read many more books about respiration to really understand what’s going on with wrong breathing and how to improve this basic and fundamental process, most of us tend to do wrong.
In this case, after learning how to efficiently use my breath I started to regularly pay attention if I’m doing it right at the moment. In fact, my routine consists of 15 minutes daily of pure deep diaphragm breathing, where I only pay attention to my breath. In addition, when it’s book reading time I always focus if I’m breathing right, which certainly helps me focusing on reading as well.
I hope I could gave you an practical example on how to automate proper breathing for questions click here
Conclusion
I hope our post has been helpful in raising your awareness about the importance of proper breathing for your physical and mental health. As we discussed, poor breathing habits can lead to a variety of negative consequences, including reduced oxygenation of cells, increased stress levels, and a higher risk of chronic disease.
By learning how to breathe properly through your nose, using your diaphragm, and taking deeper breaths, you can improve your oxygen uptake, reduce stress and anxiety, and even enhance your athletic performance. Additionally, practicing breathing exercises like diaphragmatic breathing, alternate nostril breathing, or square breathing can help you to develop better breathing habits and promote relaxation and mental clarity.
Remember, it’s never too late to start improving your breathing and taking steps towards better health. Incorporating just a few minutes of focused breathing practice into your daily routine can make a significant difference in your overall well-being. So why not give it a try and see how much better you can feel?
Sources
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/nose-hair/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9DmVcqK6_A
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22734-mouth-breathing
https://www.normalbreathing.com/chest/
How To Breathe While Running To Improve Speed, Endurance & Mental Focus
https://www.verywellmind.com/the-benefits-of-deep-breathing-5208
