Breathing is life! And mindful breathing means a long and healthy life.
What is mindful breathing? It\u2019s when you don\u2019t breathe automatically but instead think about every inhale and exhale. Sounds simple, but not everyone can do it. Last week, when I was lying down \u2014 connected to sensors \u2014 before a colonoscopy, I began to breathe and focus on how my heart beats in such a situation. On the inhale, the heart always beats faster, while on the exhale it slows down. Did you know that? Whether you knew or did not, it does not matter. What matters is that by knowing how to breathe, a person can regulate their heart beat. And if it is possible to regulate a heart, then everything else in the body even more so. We are able to control our nervous system and brain, and not vice versa (your brain cannot control you)\u2026 And all this with the help of breathing. By altering the breathing pattern, we are able to change the pattern of information that gets sent to the brain. Therefore, how often you breathe in, how quickly and how much you breathe in, depends on how your brain works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many people tend to wonder, what to do, how to start, how to breathe mindfully?Let me offer you these very simple exercises: 3 times a day before eating, 5 minutes only \u2014 5 seconds you inhale and 5 seconds you exhale. It is elementary. You inhale through the nose, sending air down your stomach. Then you exhale through the nose too. If it is dif\ufb01cult to exhale through the nose, slightly open your mouth and exhale while saying “shshshsh”. Try to start the day with a \u201c\ufb01ve-minute breathing\u201d. As soon as you wake up without even getting up yet, breathe mindfully for 5 minutes. When I say mindfully, I mean not based on thoughts, but on feelings. Just feel every inhale and exhale. The second time you practice \u201c\ufb01ve-minute breathing\u201d would be best to do before lunch. The breathing will help to \u201cturn on\u201d the digestive system and get rid of daytime fatigue. Almost always, I do the third \u201c\ufb01ve-minute breathing\u201d in the car, while being stuck in an evening traf\ufb01c jam. After that, it usually stops to matter how much longer I have to drive. The third \u201c\ufb01ve-minute breathing\u201d can also be bene\ufb01cial before dinner or before bedtime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the way, before the \u201c\ufb01ve-minute breathing\u201d practice, it is great to come up with some af\ufb01rmations. Simply say to yourself simple but inspiring words: \u201cThis way I become stronger, healthier, more resilient\u2026 more loved,\u201d or say anything that you would like to accomplish with every new breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to Breathe Right?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Breathing is life. There is no life without breathing. In fact, the count goes on for minutes. Why is carbon dioxide good for us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you really want to take care of your well-being, start with breathing. Last time, I already began talking about how to reach the state of mindful breathing, and now I want to pay attention to the foundational moments. If you need a deep inhale or two after the pause \u2014 it is a self-deceit. You must resume normal breathing without another assisting inhale. If you can\u2019t continue without the assisting ingale, try to breathe taking small and slow breaths until you reach normal breathing again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While holding your breath, do some simple exercises. For example, walking with hands up and counting your steps. Gradually, increase the number of steps during the pause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The main idea is to slowly and progressively increase the tolerance towards air hunger and have an opportunity to control your emotions while holding your breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Breathing and Detox<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n By exhaling, we automatically release the toxins and metabolic waste of our system. Despite this, the detoxi\ufb01cation effect can be enhanced even more. It is possible to improve blood circulation and aid digestion by combining several techniques, speci\ufb01cally kapalabhati pranayama and \u201cparadoxical breathing.\u201d I can say with full con\ufb01dence \u2014 this is a fairly advanced practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inhale and exhale through the nose throughout the minute and begin doing pranayama. This means \u201csharp\u201d breathing, frequent breaths, while engaging abdominal muscle. Try to focus on exhales, allowing inhales to be passive or simply re\ufb02ective. Continue the exercise with one or two long and slow paradoxical breaths\u2014 lift up the diaphragm and push it towards the belly button during the inhale. By the way, it is highly advisable for females to engage the pelvic muscles in this exercise, in particular by contracting the muscles in the area between the anus and genitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By inhaling through the nose, visualize how you\u2019re getting rid of all the junk in your body, muscles, organs, and cells. And here is the key moment: continue lifting up the diaphragm and retracting the stomach even more during the exhale, like you\u2019re squeezing every drop of air out of yourself. Relax completely. Breathe normally. Then repeat one more minute of pranayama and a couple of paradoxical breaths. Try alternating pranayama and paradoxical breathing several times. And do this \u2026 endlessly;) or until someone comes for you).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, for those who believe all of this is hard for them, try a different exercise for detoxi\ufb01cation. Inhale and hold your breath. Start \u201cplaying\u201d with your breath, as if it is a balloon \ufb01lled with air, which you can move up and down, \ufb01rst in\ufb02ating the chest then protruding the stomach. Move the balloon up and down, from the lower abdomen to the top of the chest. Stop after a while. Exhale and free yourself from the ball. Repeat the exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yawning<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yawning is a natural breathing technique that can improve our health and wellness. Yawning can help deal with sleep problems, mood swings, anxiety, as well as release stress or tension. Yawning \u2014 as we already might know from school and biology classes \u2014 is a re\ufb02ex, which in fact is a characteristic not merely of people. All the mammals, as well as birds and reptiles, yawn. Often, we tend to associate yawning with tiredness or boredom, however yawning is not that, it is much more. Animals yawn before the attack and after it is done. Have you ever noticed how frequently the dogs and cats might yawn after laying down for several minutes? So, yawning is directly related to energy, balance of the nervous system and cleansing from toxins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did you know that yawning is contagious? If someone in a group of people yawns, someone else will de\ufb01nitely repeat the yawn. Finally, the scientists have studied the phenomenon of yawning in more detail. Did you know that sociopaths don’t yawn in the group? In short, criminals don’t yawn). The less empathic a person is, the less likely they are to yawn in a group after someone else did. Unfortunately, yawning has a bad reputation. Since childhood, we were taught to hold the yawn, because yawning in public is impolite. Impolite or not, yawning is HEALTHY! By the way, if your psychologist often yawns in session, it is a wonderful sign! It means that he is far from bored and thus the therapy process is there. Yawning is a natural way to control energy. This is how you can connect with your energy, body and sensations. Yawning lets us open up our feelings and connect with the feelings of others. When we yawn, we release the energy blocks in our system. Yawning impacts the same centers in the brain that are responsible for empathy, connection, and creativity. By holding back a yawn, you keep blocks in your body and don’t let yourself relax. Yawning is an instrument for strengthening and improving the neural connections. This is a highly duplex mechanism. On one hand, it relaxes us, and on the other, it turns us into more conscious beings. Dopamines are involved in yawning chemically; they activate oxytocin. It is a neurotransmitter responsible for pleasure and sensitivity. Therefore, yawning improves the sensation of intimacy. There is evidence that yawning “cools” the brain, which is sometimes mandatory for an overheated processor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To conclude, in every uncertain situation \u2014 yawn. Learn to activate the yawn and practice for 10 minutes 3 times daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Exercises: Don\u2019t close your mouth and don\u2019t cover it with your hands while yawning. Look up. Allow your jaw to open as wide as possible. Stretch the neck area while yawning. Yawning naturally activates the lymphatic system, especially the lymph nodes in your neck, throat, and armpits. Yawn as often as possible until your eyes water. To point out, when your eyes are watering, an active detoxi\ufb01cation process begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Breathing and Panic Attacks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A major part of my practice I devote to treating panic attacks. When it comes to the latter, a psychological education plays a crucial role. You can read anything related to physiological symptoms in our articles, but now I would like to share with you how breathing can and should be connected to panic attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a concept known as hyperventilation of the lungs. Hyperventilation is “excessive breathing” that can occur re\ufb02ectively and, oddly enough, can make us feel breathless. When hyperventilation occurs re\ufb02ectively, accidentally, and happens to be out of control, a mechanism such as “anxiety” or “panic” is activated. A panic attack is the highest state of anxiety. Furthermore, a reversed situation is also possible \u2014 anxiety triggers hyperventilation. In either case, breathing is involved in the process. In case of hyperventilation, you extract too much carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide plays a big role in our body. For example, in the blood, carbon dioxide forms carbon acidity, which regulates the acid balance, speci\ufb01cally, from one breath to the next. Therefore, improper breathing (hyperventilation) can disrupt the acid balance in the blood, causing respiratory alkalosis, precisely speaking, an unnecessary balance increase of plasma in the blood. This is why during the moment of a panic attack, your lips can become numb, muscles can spasm, and you can sense pain in your chest. Hyperventilation can reduce blood \ufb02ow to the brain, causing headaches, dizziness, weakness, fainting, or even convulsions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The paradox here is that hyperventilation can be learned and utilized as a breathing practice. Arti\ufb01cially activated hyperventilation can assist in keeping such sensation under control. Conscious hyperventilation would allow us to learn how to relax, while experiencing uncomfortable sensations (this is where the paradox lies) and overcome physiological, emotional, and psychological barriers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I want to remind all of you about the scenes from American movies, where while people get panic attacks, they are given a sanitary paper bag (like the ones on airplanes) and asked to breathe in it. After you read this text, can you explain why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Breathing and Losing Weight<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Did you know that by doing certain breathing exercises, one can lose weight, get rid of the headache, deal with a hangover or insomnia, and even help battle addiction?<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, regarding losing weight. I will start by saying that someone with excessive weight is always a sick person. A healthy person shouldn\u2019t overeat. But that\u2019s a different topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is important to note that thinness is not a sign of health. I understand that everyone wants to be skinny, because it is trendy and \u201cbad\u201d people convince us to follow the trend. However, this is not a healthy perception either. In order to identify one\u2019s norm, there is a formula. I believe most people are familiar with it. And this is also a topic of another post. Yet, a person with excessive weight truly wants to deal with their eating problems, including the psychological ones, and decides to go see a therapist. And that\u2019s the right choice. During that moment, the breathing exercises come for a rescue. Breathing truly can stabilize a person\u2019s weight. Our lungs are considered to be the main organ of excretion, and since oxygen plays an essential role in burning fat, breathing exercises can actually help reduce one\u2019s weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When a pound of fat is oxidized, approximately 20 percent of this fat transforms into water and gets excreted from the body, while the remaining 80 percent gets excreted as carbon dioxide. Coal in carbon dioxide is quite heavy. On average, a person exhales about a pound of coal a day. When you do any physical exercise (yes yes, in order to lose weight, a person not only needs to breathe properly but include additional movements), try to breathe deeper. Breathing during physical exercise needs to be “aggravated”. The most effective breathing for weight loss is the following: inhale, pull in the abdomen, raise the chest and everything else in the abdominal cavity. As you exhale, pull your stomach in even more and pull it even higher. Hold your breath for 10 seconds, or a little less if dif\ufb01cult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It might sound challenging, but aim to imagine and pretend like you have a \ufb02at stomach and slim waist, while you do this exercise. In order to obtain such a look, one needs to pull everything in, right? So, pull in, don’t be afraid. Inhale, exhale and hold your breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a9 Masha Lopatova<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Breathing is life! And mindful breathing means a long and healthy life.What is mindful breathing? It\u2019s when you don\u2019t breathe automatically but instead think about every inhale and exhale. Sounds simple, but not everyone can do it. 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First of all, NEVER breathe through the mouth. If you have a habit or a medical condition (illness, septal problems, chronic sinusitis), try to get rid of the reasons that are causing you to breathe through the mouth. Try to breathe softly through your nose with many pauses. Keep in mind that a healthy person in a relaxed state should calmly pause after inhaling for at least 30-45 seconds. Try to test yourself: just inhale and exhale at a normal pace, close your mouth, pinch your nose and do not inhale. Time yourself. As an exercise, try lengthening this time when you do it again in the future. Try to control the pauses after inhaling. Gradually, throughout the week, continue pausing until you feel comfortable not breathing for 45-60 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n