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Better Breathing for Better Health

Breathing is as you already know a very important action. All of us tend to breath very shallow and during any kind of exertion we will find that our chest gets sore because of a lack of stretching of our chest breathing deeply.

There are many benefits to proper breathing experts say it reduces the effects of stress, a leading cause of physical woes. Slow, deep breathing can lower blood pressure, end heart irregularities, improve poor digestion and decrease anxiety.

Lie down or sit in a comfortable chair, maintaining good posture. Your body should be as relaxed as possible. Close your eyes. Scan your body for tension.

Pay attention to your breathing. Place one hand on the part of your chest or abdomen that seems to rise and fall the most with each breath. If this spot is in your chest you are not utilizing the lower part of your lungs.

Breathe in through your nose.

Notice if your chest is moving in harmony with your abdomen.

Now place one hand on your abdomen and one on your chest.

Inhale deeply and slowly through your nose into your abdomen. You should feel your abdomen rise with this inhalation and your chest should move only a little. Do this inhaling for a count of 2

Hold your breath and hold it for a count of 8

Exhale through your mouth, keeping your mouth, tongue, and jaw relaxed. Let the exhale last for a count of 4.

Of course these breath numbers are based on taking a comfortable deep breath. The ratio of 1:4:2 is the number of breaths that you are looking for and you should try to do this breathing method for 10 cycles 3 times per day. If this is not convenient you can also do breathing while commuting, watching TV or even in a meeting as long as your breathing is not distracting to others

This may seem a lot like the breathing that we do for meditation and it is somewhat related. The one thing that is different is that this should be a way of retraining ourselves to breathe better all of the time.

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