What are the breathing exercises that can help women?
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Breathing exercise is an exercise intended to promote effective and healthy breathing and breath control. It is beneficial for various reasons, mostly for stress. Whenever we are stressed or nervous we are asked to take a deep breath as it calms the mind and relieves us. Breathing exercises are easy to learn and do not need any special equipment. They can be practiced anywhere and anytime.
How can you add breathing exercises to your daily life?
Breathing exercises are not meant to do for hours, it can be done within minutes. It requires just a few minutes of your time where you can pay full attention to breathing only. Begin with 2-5 minutes exercise and keep on increasing the time as it becomes easier and comfortable. Practice it multiple times after scheduling set time as per your need and comfort.
What are the things to keep in mind while doing breathing exercises?
Before starting any breathing exercise there are a few tips to keep in mind:
Choose a suitable place for your breathing exercise.
Don't force yourself to do it. It can stress you more.
Try to do it at once or twice a day at the same time.
You must wear comfortable clothes.
What are some of the breathing techniques to be followed?
There are various breathing techniques which function differently for various body parts.
Pursed lip breathing: To do it, you need to relax your neck and shoulders while keeping your mouth closed, inhaling slowly through your nose for 2 counts and exhaling slowly by blowing air through pursed lips (as you are going to whistle) for a count of 4. It slows down the pace of breathing and is useful during activities such as bending, lifting, or stair climbing.
Diaphragmatic breathing: To do it, you must lie on your back with your knees slightly bent and head on a pillow and one hand placed on your upper chest, allowing yourself to feel the movement of your diaphragm. Slowly inhale through your nose, feeling your and exhale using pursed lips as you tighten your stomach muscles.
Breath focus technique: To do this, you need to breathe in with closed eyes imagining air being filled inside with a sense of peace and calm and breathe out imagining that air is leaving your body with stress and tension.
Lion's breath: To do this, you must sit in a lion's pose and inhale deeply through your nose and open your eyes wide and then exhale with a wide mouth making a 'ha' sound.
Alternate nostril breathing: Use your right thumb to close the right nostril. Inhale through the left nostril and then close it using your right fingers. Release your thumb and exhale through the right nostril. Then repeat the same with an alternate side.
Equal breathing: Breathe in through the nose and count till 5 then breathe out through your nose and again count till 5 so that you give equal time to inhaling and exhaling.
Sitali breath: To do this, inhale through your mouth and purse your lips and then exhale out through your nose.
Deep breathing: Deep breathing is inhaling through the nose and filling the air in the belly and then exhaling through the nose.
What are the breathing techniques for stress relief?
Breath is a powerful tool to ease stress and make anyone feel less anxious. Some simple breathing exercises can make a big difference if you make them a part of your regular routine.
Deep breathing : Deep breathing is inhaling through the nose and filling the air in the belly and then exhaling through the nose.
Breath focus: Breathe in with closed eyes imagining air being filled inside with a sense of peace and calm and breathe out imagining that air is leaving your body with stress and tension.
Equal time for breathing in and breathing out: Breathe in through the nose and count till 5 then breathe out through your nose and again count till 5 so that you give equal time to inhaling and exhaling.
Progressive muscle relaxation: In this you breathe in as you tense the muscles and breathe out as you release it. It helps you to relax physically and mentally.
Modified lion's breath: All you need to do while doing this exercise is imagine yourself to be a lion. Breathe in as much air as you can and breathe out with a 'ha' sound.
What are the benefits of breathing exercises?
Breathing exercises have immense physical, mental, emotional and spiritual benefits. They heal us by reducing stress and relaxing. Some of the benefits of breathing exercises are:
It increases the amount of oxygen in the body and increases release of toxins along with carbon dioxide thus improving immunity of the body.
It helps in normalising heart rate and increasing oxygen levels thus helps tackling anxiety.
It detoxifies the body and calms it down, increasing sleep quality.
It strengthens the cardiovascular muscles and improves blood pressure.
It helps the digestive organ to perform better by relieving any kind of gastrointestinal issues, constipation, indigestion, etc.
It improves focus and concentration.
It provides the skin healthy and inner glow.
It makes the body joints and muscles strong, reducing the strain of physical exercise.
It increases lung elasticity which gives more breathing space and increases the air build up in the lungs.
Sitali breath helps in cooling down the body and brings down inflamed irritated emotions and decreases inflammation in the digestive system.
Conclusion
Breathing exercise is an exercise intended to promote effective and healthy breathing and breath control. It is beneficial for various reasons, mostly for stress. Breathing exercises are easy to learn and do not need any special equipment. They can be practiced anywhere and anytime. Breathing exercises are not meant to do for hours, it can be done within minutes. It requires just a few minutes of your time where you can pay full attention to breathing only. Some breathing exercises you can practice are pursed lip breathing, diaphragmatic breathing, breath focus technique, lion’s breath, alternate nostril breathing, resonant breathing, sitali breath, and humming bee breath. Breathing exercises have immense physical, mental, emotional and spiritual benefits. They heal us by reducing stress and relaxing.
References
https://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/stress-relief-breathing-techniques
https://www.healthline.com/health/breathing-exercise#lions-breath