5 Breathing Techniques to Improve Your Health

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Dr. Garreth MacDonald
 

5 Breathing Techniques to Improve Your Health

Practicing breathing exercises at home can improve your immune system and overall health.

Along with physical exercises, meditation, yoga, acupuncture, massage therapy, and chiropractic adjustments, learning breathing techniques can help alleviate back pain, stiff muscles, stress, anxiety, and more.

Cascade Health Center is a multidisciplinary center focused on finding the root problem to people’s ailments and providing non-invasive solutions as treatments. We are the best in massage therapy, chiropractic adjustments, and acupuncture, in Eugene, OR.

During the therapies, we teach our patients breathing techniques to improve their health and maximize the effectiveness of the treatments. Today we want to share with you five breathing techniques you can practice from the comfort of your home:

1. Diaphragmatic Breathing:

Breathing through the diaphragm is one of the best methods as it helps you relax and lower stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol.

At first, it might be challenging to perform, and it can make you feel tired. However, with practice, it will become more comfortable and more natural.

You can start by lying on your back, with the knees bent and a pillow underneath your head. Then place a hand on your rib cage and the other on your upper chest, allowing you to feel the movement. Whenever you inhale, try to do it slowly and by sending the air to your stock. You can exhale through the nose or your mouth while tensing the abdomen muscles.

Once you are more comfortable with diaphragm breathing, you can try to do it while sitting down or standing up, to increase difficulty.

2. Alternating Nostril Breathing

Nostril breathing is a common technique during yoga for relaxation. It enhances your cardiovascular function and lowers the heart rate.

To practice this technique, it’s recommended to stand up straight. Then with the help of your fingers, you will alternate inhaling and exhaling through your left and right nostrils. Cover the left nostril – inhale through the right nostril – cover the right nostril – exhale through the left nostril.

3. Bellows Breathing

Bellows breathing is another yoga breathing technique. However, it’s used to boost your energy.

This technique only uses the nose for inhaling and exhaling. Using your diaphragm, you will inhale and exhale rapidly and with force. You can start with ten rounds, depending on how intense it feels.

4. Box Breathing

Box breathing is a simple breathing technique that can be used for stress management. It consists of inhaling and exhaling at the same pace while making pauses in between. You can start by breathing in 4, holding 4 seconds, exhaling in 4, holding another 4 seconds, and starting all over again.

5. Calming Breathing

This breathing technique consists of slowly breathing through your nose, filling the lungs, holding for 3 seconds, and then exhaling for double of the time it took you to inhale air. As the name suggests, it has a calming effect.

Cascade Health Center Helps Teaches You To Breath

For more information and to get help from a professional, we invite you to visit our center. Our specialists will guide you through many other breathing techniques more.

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