Deep breathing for better health

Deep breathing for better health

From the moment we are born, we start breathing.

It is easy to take breathing for granted, but the truth is many people don’t know how to breathe healthily.

Nathaly Shoua-Desmarais, a clinical psychologist from Florida International University, suggests that as we grow up, we change the way we breathe.

While babies use diaphragmatic breathing, adults can develop bad habits and use thoracic breathing.

Diaphragmatic breathing is deep or belly breathing. When doing it, a person contracts the diaphragm, which is a large dome-shaped muscle at the base of the lungs.

Thoracic breathing is shallow or chest breathing. In the breathing, a person uses the muscles in the upper chest.

The problem of this type of breathing is that it takes less oxygen, which can harm your body and organs.

The researcher suggests that it is the longer exhalation that provides the most benefit, not the longer suck in air.

She recommends inhaling for four seconds and exhaling for six seconds.

Deep breathing can help your body get enough oxygen and get rid of carbon dioxide, a byproduct of the food we eat.

It can also be used in calm breathing exercises and meditation because it can increase blood flow to the brain.

Deep breathing can help reduce anxiety and tension and improve concentration and memory.

On the contrary, shallow breathing may increase anxiety, muscle tension, and fatigue.

The researcher also suggests that it can be harmful to change suddenly from shallow breathing to deep breathing. People may feel dizzy or get a headache, even hyperventilate.

Therefore, it is better to take it easy at first. For example, people can start out with 5-minute breathing routines every day until the body gets used to deep breathing.

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