Benefits of a Deep Breath

On an average, an individual breathes around 17,280-23,040 times a day, without giving it a second thought. When we breathe, we take in life-giving oxygen, which purifies the blood and nourishes the organs.

Deep breathing practices have been encouraged and carried out since centuries, and that's for a pretty good reason. Here we bring for you some of the best and noteworthy benefits of deep breathing, minus the exaggeration and hype. Read on, you’ll be surprised.

Pranayama or deep breathing / Yoga and Pregnancy
Through yogic practice, the phase of pregnancy can be transformed into a joyous, natural experience bringing about health and wellness to the mother and the baby

Less stress: This one is probably fixed into your mind, with the tabloids screaming of how yoga and meditation can reduce stress. Chances are, however, that you may get bored with the routine and stick to anti-depressants and binge eating as a let-out for stress, instead of trying deep breathing.

There are many reasons why you should give deep breathing a try as a remedy for stress. Deep breathing stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system and thereby slows down the heart rate to normal. Furthermore, it also reduces panic and anxiety and helps you think clearly.

Healthy lungs: Deep breathing exercises strengthen the respiratory muscles and improve the oxygen supply to your body. Junk food consumption and erratic lifestyles cause a much lower oxygen supply to the body, which makes you feel tired and restless. Deep breathing practices can prove to be very effective in these cases.

Playing music to premature babies improves breathing and sleep
A new study has revealed that music can be a boon to newborns as it can help them breathe easy as well as sleep well.

De-toxed body: This one will be a major head-turner, since detox diets are all in the rage nowadays. A good supply of oxygen to your body helps flush out toxins, which detoxifies the body and stimulates healthy body function.

Overall health: Regular deep breathing practices have been known to help reduce hypertension, fatigue, headaches, depression, panic, anxiousness, tension, hyperventilation and more. Insomniac people have noted a good difference in their sleep patterns after trying deep breathing practices daily.

Strangely, sleep disordered breathing may offer protection to heart patients
A new study has shown that some heart attack patients can actually benefit from mild to moderate sleep-disordered breathing.

To make things simpler, we’ve listed down a few simple exercises that incorporate deep breathing practices, which improve overall health. Try them and notice the difference.

• Try deep breathing right before you sleep- Breathe in for three seconds, hold for three, and let it out in counts of three. Do this 10-15 times. Notice how calm and relaxed you’ll feel instantly.

Abdominal Breathing
Know all about the Abdominal Breathing, the classic ancient system of India, and how it flourished under various civilizations

• Try out diaphragmatic breathing under the guidance of an expert. It is one of the best breathing exercises to help manage stress and depression.

• To keep your lungs healthy and strong, take a long deep breath, and then let it out forcefully in short breaks, at least 3-4 breaks. This helps keep away major lung diseases.

Source-Medindia