On average a person takes 16 breaths a minute. What if you could use even some of those breaths every day to improve your health, wellness, and vitality? You can! Breathing exercises are a lesser-known method of promoting physical, mental, and emotional health.

Read below for five benefits of breathing exercises, and try some out for yourself!

Breathing Exercises

Although we take many breaths each day, breathing exercises are unique because they are a way to purposefully use breath for a particular goal or health benefit. There are various types of breathing exercises including deep breathing, belly breathing, resonant breathing, and breath focus that each has particular techniques involved. No matter which method you choose, there are health benefits in it for you.

1. Reduce Stress and Anxiety

Breathing exercises are a powerful technique to increase a sense of overall calm and reduce stress. By focusing on your breath you can also lower your heart rate and achieve a level of peace from that sensation. Try one deep breath right now. Can you feel your muscles loosening and tension draining from your body? Now imagine taking time every day to this. The benefits will pleasantly surprise you.

2. Improve Digestion

Believe it or not, controlling and exercising your breathing can improve your digestion! Breathing deeply supplies more oxygen to the body and allowing parts of the digestive system to work more efficiently. Deep breathing can also aid the intestinal tract and reduce nervous system activity that can otherwise inhibit digestion. Additionally, if you are experiencing symptoms of parasite dying off, breathing exercises may help alleviate some of the symptoms.

3. Improve Posture

Unfortunately, it is very easy these days to become mostly sedentary. Between driving, sitting at a desk or in front of the TV, and sitting for meals, most of us spend the day relatively inactive. As a result, our posture suffers. However, breathing exercises can also help improve overall posture, especially if you practice breathing exercises regularly. When you practice deep breathing your spine automatically straightens and lengthens to allow your lungs to fill with air. Improving posture alone has many of its own health benefits too!

4. Boost Immunity

Breathing exercises can also improve your overall immunity, meaning your immune system’s ability to keep you from getting sick or staying sick. When blood has more oxygen it can absorb essential nutrients and vitamins that protect you from getting sick.

5. Reduce Pain

If you are looking for an all-natural way to alleviate chronic pain, breathing exercises are worth a try! Breathing exercises are known to release endorphins which are responsible for a happy, pain-free sensation. Practicing deep breathing exercises regularly may be able to alleviate this pain long term.

Although we often take breathing for granted, it is a powerful force of good for our health and overall wellbeing. Next time you find yourself in a stressful situation, or just have a few extra minutes of downtime, practice breathing exercises and see how it makes you feel.

Have you done breathing exercises?

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