Building Better Habits: Intentional Breathing

Mar 18

Today, let’s talk about a new healthy habit that is totally free and only takes a few minutes a day to do…breathing. You might be thinking, well, I already do this every day, so I’m good. This is true, but how often do you practice intentional breathing?

This busy, modern world has made it hard for us to breathe properly and in a healthy way. The amount of emotional stress and anxiety that we tend to take on causes us to breathe shallower or erratically. If we have poor unsupportive posture, it can cause tension in our body which makes us take smaller breaths. Also, using a screen makes us hold our breath. It's an odd phenomenon that's termed email apnea.

All these habits that we have formed affect our minds and how we feel. Spending time focusing on our breathing and promoting a healthier way of doing so can be very beneficial for our general health. Practicing intentional breathing twice a day for a few minutes can combat daily moments of anxiety. This is something that can be done in the morning and before bed. In fact, some breathing methods are known for improving sleep.

We’ve all experienced stressful situations that result in short, erratic breathing which sends our nervous system into a fight or flight situation. When these situations occur, doing a conscious breathing exercise can help us gain more control over the mind-body connection. We are naturally unconscious breathers, meaning it’s a natural process that we don’t have to think about. Unlike the other automatic processes happening in our body, breath is the only one that we can use our concentration and attention to control. If we practice breathing when we are relaxed, we are much more likely to go to the breath and benefit from it when we are stressed, so make this a regular practice either when you wake in the morning, before sleep at night, or even when driving.

One basic breathing technique is called belly breathing or diaphragmatic breathing. This technique zones in on using the diaphragm muscle to breathe deep into the belly. To do this, put one hand on your belly and one hand on your chest. The goal is to not have your chest rise and fall but instead have your belly fill and then flatten. Feel yourself breathing for a second. You will notice that focusing on your breathing prevents you from focusing mentally on a stressful situation.

Another technique you can try is a popularized breathing exercise called 4, 7, and 8 breathing. This method was developed to help with sleep issues as well as anxiety. Here is how to do this:

Exhale forcefully making a whooshing sound through your mouth.
Inhale deeply to a count of 4.
Hold your breath (not like you are going underwater, but more resting or pausing) for a count of 7.
Exhale slowly to a count of 8 making the whooshing sound through your mouth again.

To start out, you’ll just want to do 4 rounds and then work your way up to 8.

These intentional breathing methods are easy to incorporate into your busy life and do not take much time at all. Not only will it help you relax and destress, but it will help your overall health as well.

If you’d like to learn more about how you can improve your health, regain your energy, or get to the root cause of your health concern, schedule a free call with us today - bit.ly/3tb36Ft. We would love to work with you!