Your cardiovascular system works to deliver oxygenated blood to your body while removing carbon dioxide waste from your system. Because breathing is an autonomic function, you may not always think about the way you're breathing and how it can affect your health. Simple exercises can promote improved cardiovascular function and awareness of breathing.
Perform Cardio
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that adults spend at least 30 minutes a day, most days of the week, performing cardiovascular exercise. This type of exercise incorporates rhythmic body movements that work the major muscle groups of the body to increase heart and breathing rate. Get your cardiovascular exercise by walking, swimming, participating in aerobics or cycling. You may find that your breathing seems irregular when you first start, but concentrate on taking deep breaths, aiming to inhale at the same rate as you exhale. You will find that your breath rate settles into a comfortable rhythm in sync with your body movements. As you incorporate regular cardio exercise into your lifestyle, your aerobic capacity will improve, and your heart will deliver oxygen to your body with greater ease.
Meditate on Your Breathing
Start each day concentrating on your breathing, incorporating yogic breathing into your morning routine. According to the Baylor College of Medicine, yogic breathing involves, long, deep breaths that can improve lung function. Lie in bed with your eyes closed for five minutes. Fold your hands over your stomach, or allow them to relax at the side of your body. Take a deep, long breath in through your nose, then exhale through your mouth. Continue, trying to only concentrate on your breathing throughout the entire five minutes. End your day the same way, spending five minutes concentrating solely on your breath rate.
Participate in Yoga
Yoga teaches you to concentrate on your breathing while at rest, but also while contorting your body into various postures. Throughout your day, when your stress level rises, or you're caught up in work, you probably don't recognize variances in your breathing rate. You may hold your breath, or breathe shallowly, preventing your body from receiving the fresh oxygen it needs for proper function. Yogic breathing, referred to as pranayama breathing, teaches you to concentrate on your breathing while simultaneously performing other movements. This concentration can help you train yourself to continue breathing steadily through the stresses of your day, according to the University of New Mexico's Sarah Novotny and Len Kravitz in the article "The Science of Breathing." Pranayama breathing may be taught in different ways, including belly breathing, alternate nostril breathing, interval breathing and the complete yoga breath. Only interval breathing and the complete yoga breath are used during yoga poses. The complete yoga breath teaches you to consciously take breath into the full lung, while interval breathing varies the length of time for inhalation and exhalation.
