DEEP BREATHING PRACTICE

Deep breathing is one of the easiest ways to improve your health and wellbeing. You can perform deep breathing anywhere at any time. Deep breathing takes very little effort and costs nothing, and the stress-reduction benefits are priceless. Take a little time each day to practice deep breathing, and the practice will greatly reward your efforts.

How Does Deep Breathing Affects Us?

When we voluntarily change the rate, depth, and pattern of breathing, we change the messages being sent from the body’s respiratory system to the brain. Messages from the respiratory system have rapid, powerful effects on major brain centers involved in thought, emotion, and behavior.

Benefits of Deep Breathing:
• Relaxes the nervous system
• Helps detoxify the body
• Relieves pain
• Produces chemicals in the brain that elevate mood
• Stimulates the lymphatic system
• Gives you energy
• Helps you sleep better
• Lowers blood pressure
• Improves digestion
• Increases circulation

Below is a written format for your Deep Breathing Practice. Once you have read the below paragraph grab a pillow, lay down or sit up in a comfy location, and listen to the guided meditation below!

You can practice breathing while laying down, sitting or standing up straight. If you lie down, relax your whole body. If you sit or stand, imagine a string gently lifting up your chest, and feel the space between your chest and navel lengthen. Make your spine feel long and tall, but don’t strain. Proper posture gets air into your lungs and helps energy to flow through your body. Place one hand on your upper chest and the other hand just below your navel. Observe the sensations of movement as you breathe. Move your breath like a wave, starting in your stomach and flowing up to fill your chest. Breathe in slowly through your nose so that your stomach moves out against your hand. The hand on your chest should expand after the stomach expands. Exhale slowly through your nose. The wave of your breath will move down from the chest ending with the abdomen flattening. Take 10 deep breaths in and out of your nose. Pay attention to the texture, speed, and quality of the transitions between your breaths. Keeps the breaths deep, steady, smooth, and equal in length. Focus your attention on the sensations in your body. If you notice muscles tensing up anywhere in your body—especially on your face or around your abdomen—release the tension.