Deep breathing techniques - Deep breathing exercise benefits for relaxation

Simple Deep Breathing Exercises to Relieve Stress and Anxiety

DEEP BREATHING EXERCISE BENEFITS

Benefits of deep breathing exercises:

1. Relaxes you a lot.
2. Purifies your blood.
3. Increases serotonin and calms the nervous system and your brain.
4. When you inhale deeply, the oxygen reaches to deeper cells and nourishes the body and brain cells.
5. Strengthens your immune system.
6. Turns up autonomic nervous system.
7. Expels damaging toxins.
8. Lowers your heart and respiratory rate.
9. Lowers your blood pressure.
10. Enhances and refreshes your mood.
11. Helps you sleep better.
12. Improves the digestive system.
13. Helps to balance the right and left hemisphere of the brain.
14. Helps to regulate the cooling and heating cycles of your body.
15. Relieves headaches.
16. Calms the anxiety and stress symptoms.

Deep breathing exercises are better to be done in the fresh morning hours when there is abundance of unpolluted and fresh air around you. Deep breathing exercises help you activate parasympathetic nervous system and make you calm down.

I will show you three types of breathing exercises, which are very simple and easy to learn and practice.

1. 4-7-8 breathing technique
2. Alternate nostril breathing technique
3. Diaphragmatic or belly breathing

Before you begin any of these exercises, be seated comfortably and relax. It's good to be in comfortable clothing. Just clear your mind of any thoughts before you start.

4-7-8 breathing technique:

You can do this exercise either by sitting or 

lying down:

• Sit or lie down in a comfortable position.
• Start inhaling deeply while counting 4 seconds quietly.
• Hold your breath for a total of 7 seconds.
• Exhale completely while counting 8 seconds quietly with pursed lips as if you are whistling with a “whooshing” sound. Try to breath all air out of your lungs.
• Repeat 3 to 5 times until you feel calm.

Alternate nostril breathing:

With your right thumb, cover your right nostril and inhale deeply through your left nostril, while holding the breath for few seconds, release the thumb, and then cover your left nostril with your right ring finger, and exhale through the right nostril.

Similarly, keeping the left nostril closed with your right ring finger, inhale through the right, while holding the breath for few seconds, release the ring finger, and cover your right nostril with the thumb, and exhale through the left.

Diaphragmatic or belly breathing:

Sit down or lie down comfortably.

Put one hand on your upper chest and the other hand just below your rib cage.

Start breathing in through your nose, you 

should inhale into your abdomen in a way that the hand on your stomach moves in upward direction while the other hand on your chest remains still. Here counting is not required, just inhale as much as possible. 

As you breath out, exhale through your pursed lips and note that your hand on your stomach is moving in downward direction, and exhale completely until your lungs have no more air to breath out. Continue this exercise for about 5 to 10 minutes, and feel the relaxation.