This article was contributed by Shannon Flynn of ReHack
Most people would assume they need supplements and medications to improve their health. Although those can be good alongside their doctor’s advice, breathing is another way to manage daily symptoms or conditions. This guide explains how to breathe your way to better health and start feeling better without spending a dime.
1. Breathe to Reduce Your Stress
When someone gets stressed, their heart rate increases. It’s part of activating their fight or flight mode. Their body prepares to fight for survival or run to safety, physically or metaphorically. Either way, an increased heart rate pumps enough blood and oxygen throughout the body to support any survival mode.
Breathing slowly through the nose and out through the mouth for measured counts helps slow a racing heart. The body naturally eases back into a less-panicked state, reducing stress. It’s easier to manage situations because the mind isn’t in fight or flight mode.
2. Breathe and Lower Your Blood Pressure
The journal Complementary Therapies in Medicine recently published a study where participants lowered their blood pressure with slow breathing exercises. The researchers recommended it as a treatment option for people with low risk prehypertensive and hypertensive blood pressure conditions.
As long as the anxiety-inducing environment changes during the breathing exercise, anyone can breathe their way to better health. Slowly breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth for at least 30 seconds helps people of all ages manage their blood pressure. The key is to continue breathing without interruption, which would stop the effects and allow blood pressure to build again.
3. Breathe and Let Go of Anxiety
When anxiety begins to build or an anxiety attack starts, breathing is likely the last thing on a person’s mind. However, it can reduce the anxiety’s severity if the anxious person implements belly breathing.
A 2017 study showed that participants had significantly lower cortisol levels after 20 sessions of belly breathing classes than before breathing exercises began. High cortisol leads to various health issues when experienced long-term, so diaphragmatic breathing can be an excellent resource for anyone battling an anxiety condition.
This is one reason why breathing exercises are becoming a common core of workplace training programs. People working in high-stress jobs can use them to their advantage. The 43% of physicians living with burnout due to long office hours and after-hours charting could benefit from training sessions emphasizing the power of breathing your way to better health.
4. Breathe to Gain More Oxygen
Sometimes people say that breathing exercises can cure asthma. Although there isn’t research backing that statement up, they do successfully increase the oxygen flowing to a person’s brain and lungs. A 2019 study demonstrated how participants with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD) improved their oxygen levels with intentional breathing that was as deep as participants could manage.
Additional oxygen can relieve non-COPD symptoms like dizziness and exhaustion. Practicing intentional breathing can benefit anyone needing more oxygen to improve their health.
5. Breathe to Get Through Hot Flashes
Menopause causes various symptoms, including hot flashes. There are many remedies doctors recommend, but breathing is always an option when hot flashes occur. Researchers found high levels of cortisol in study participants actively experiencing hot flashes. Diaphragmatic breathing can lower the stress hormone, so participants found relief through guided breathing exercises.
Anyone can recreate this health benefit at home or wherever they experience a hot flash. Although they may continue occurring as long as menopause lasts, slow breathing can make them more manageable.
6. Breathe and Push Through Headaches
Muscles can become tense when the sympathetic nervous system kicks in during high-stress situations. It’s challenging to recover from anxiety attacks or stress when the physical symptoms remain long after the threat or worry ends.
In 2018, researchers showed how breathing relieved headache pain even when different factors caused headaches. The study involved paediatric patients, but adults can have the same results. Breathing deeply relaxes tension in the shoulders and neck, which can contribute to headaches and even cause them.
Breathe to Improve Your Health
The simple act of breathing slowly and deeply is an excellent way to improve your health. Relaxing muscle groups, delivering more oxygen to the brain, and lowering cortisol levels are just a few of the benefits anyone can experience in their journey to better wellbeing.
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