We breathe 25,000 or so times a day. How we breathe affects our health and wellbeing. Our modern stressed sedentary lifestyle has shifted our breathing patterns away from our natural breath. Many of us have adopted poor and ineffective breathing patterns, negatively impacting our physical and mental health.
Try these 5 breathing tips to help you breathe better and support greater health and wellbeing
1. Bring awareness to your breath
- the speed of your breath
- the volume of your breath
- the rhythm or pattern of your breath
- where you can feel the breath in your body
- when your breath changes throughout the day
2. Breathe through your nose
- Nose breathing increases oxygen uptake into the cells, tissues and organs
- The nose is the body’s first line of defence warming, filtering and humidifying the air before it reaches the more sensitive lungs
3. Rest your tongue on the roof of your mouth.
- It is harder to mouth breathe with your tongue on the roof of your mouth and it supports the opening of the upper airway
- Train your tongue to return to the roof of your mouth, behind and back from the front teeth
4. Bring your breath into your belly
- Breathing low in the body, driven by the diaphragm supports optimal breathing mechanics
- It increases oxygen uptake in the body and
- supports the rest and digest response
5. Reduce the volume of air you are breathing
- Most of us are actually breathing too much air, this creates imbalances within the body and actually decreases oxygen uptake
- Lighter breathing patterns support a balance of CO2 and O2 in the body, increasing oxygen uptake and settling our nervous system