Effort is put into strengthening and toning our external muscles, and breathing exercises do the same in terms of toning our internal capacity to breathe deeper, ease tension and improve the strength and stamina of our overall body wellness. It's important to practice different breathing techniques so they become second nature and can be carried into our everyday lives.
The Importance
Because breathing is an automatic action and necessary for the body to function, sometimes the attention to exercising the respiratory muscles is not our focus. As with any weakened muscles, eventually strain will be put on parts not intended to aid in the action of breathing, making the body work that much harder. Unlike the main respiration muscles, which include the diaphragm, intercostals and abdominal muscles, the secondary muscles higher up in the body grow tired very quickly. Shallow breathing, hyperventilation and chest breathing due to holding your stomach in are examples of unhealthy breathing patterns that engage the secondary respiratory muscles.
Basics of Breathing
When you inhale, the diaphragm and intercostal muscles (the muscles between your ribs) contract and expand the chest cavity. This expansion lowers the pressure in the chest cavity and oxygen flows through and inflates the lungs.
When you exhale, the diaphragm and intercostal muscles relax and the chest cavity gets smaller. Oxygen from the lungs flows out of the airways to the outside air. The cycle repeats with each breath.
Benefits
Learning to exercise the muscles that control breathing reduces stress and anxiety. A study, published in 2010 in "Depression and Anxiety" by the Group Health Research Institute, reported that the participants' anxiety and depression had decreased by 40 percent after a 10-treatment, 12-week period study. Three different therapies were given (deep breathing, massage or thermotherapy, where the arms and legs are wrapped with towels), and the effects of the therapies were equal. The researchers were surprised that the breathing therapy rivaled that of the other bodywork therapies. The research reveals the power of breathing exercises.
Types
There are countless types of breathing exercises. Abdominal breathing is a healthy breathing pattern where you practice inhaling so that your belly goes outward and exhaling so that you draw it inward.
The neck and shoulders are often the areas that hold the most stress tension. Another breathing exercise that frees these muscles is breath-regulated shoulder shrugging. On an inhale, shrug the shoulders up to the ears, and on an exhale, release the shoulders back down. This simple breath-movement connection loosens tension and promotes mental relaxation.
Resting in a reclined relaxation pose with your lower back rooted, legs extended and taking deep breaths is an exercise that can be done at the beginning of each day or right before you go to bed. Taking a few moments to bring attention to breathing can change the way you react throughout your day.
Pranayama Techniques
Pranayama is the Sanskrit word for regulation of breath, and there are many Pranayama techniques that are powerful breathing exercises. Ujjayi breathing, sometimes called the ocean or whispered breathe, is a technique very often used during yoga practice. For those learning the breathing technique, the sound is audible, mimicking the sound of the ocean. In a comfortable seated posture, breathe through your nose and exhale with your mouth open, like you are fogging up a window. Try breathing through your nose and out through you nose making the same noise. Narrow the throat passage so the airway is tighter and that will create the rushing sound. Not just for yoga practice, the body benefits from Ujjayi breathing exercise because it increases intake of oxygen, slows the breath, helps build energy and maintains an increase pressure in the abdomen area thus supporting the spine.
References
- "The Breathing Book"; Donna Farhi; 1996
- "Breathe Better, Feel Better"; Howard Kent; 1997
- "ScieneDaily"; Massage Eases Anxiety, but No Better Than Simple Relaxation Does; March 2010
