Know the 3 breathing exercises to enhance your lung functions. Is the pollution around taking a toll on your lungs? Do you often inhale deeply to fill your lungs with air? Lungs are a miraculous organ that helps you to oxygenate till the last cell in your body and filters out the harmful gasses.
An optimal functioning of the lungs is pivotal for a great wellbeing, but it is becoming hard to maintain our lung’s health in today’s environment. Research proves that breathing exercises can aid you to eliminate stale air and increase their overall capacity. So let us know three most effective techniques to breathe.
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Pursed Breathing
The pursed-lip breathing is the first out of 3 techniques that allows you to breathe in through your nose and breathe out through your mouth or lips. If you want to purse your lips, simply direct them in a pouting shape, making a small 0 with your lips. Then, follow these steps to facilitate the pursed breathing approach.
- Sit down in a calm environment
- Ensure that your stomach is empty and close your eyes
- Be aware of the present moment and inhale-exhale deeply through your nose three times
- Keep your palms facing upwards seated on both sides of your lap
- Now, inhale gently through your nose
- Take the air and fill in your lungs fully
- Purse your lips and make the “o” shape
- Gently exhale from your pursed lips as if soft-blowing the air.
Belly Breathing
Next up in the line is the belly or stomach breathing method. Whenever you are going short of breath or are feeling anxious, practice this belly breathing. This approach requires you to use your stomach alongside your nostrils. So, let us see how it is done correctly.
- Sit on a chair and relax yourself
- You can even lay down with your hands on your stomach
- Do whatever feels more natural to you
- Put your hands on your belly and close your mouth
- Take a deep breath slowly through your nose
- While you breathe in, your belly would inflate like a balloon after the air fills in
- Blow out all the air through your pursed lips
- Continue breathing in and out like this for about 10 minutes
- Keep your hands on your belly as it allows you to focus on your ongoing breath to your stomach.
Conscious Breathing
Our last of the 3/3 methods is this technique. Conscious breathing is the easiest of the three breathing techniques and also the trickiest one sometimes. It is a kind of breathing that allows you to be completely aware of your surroundings and be with your body for the time being. The tricky part is to convince your brain to concentrate on your breath cycle for those few minutes of sitting. Follow these steps to unfold this method.
- Sit in a comfortable cross-legged position
- You can even sit in a chair if you cannot sit with legs folded
- Close your eyes and straighten up your spine
- Bring the awareness to your breath
- Simply observe your body and mind
- Come back to your breathing to begin the process
- Gently inhale completely through your nose
- Exhale wholly through your nostrils
- Continue it for 3 to 7 minutes anytime of the day
- Try to do this practice twice a day (morning and evening), preferably on an empty stomach.
Benefits of Pranayama
Pranayama is a Sanskrit term for ‘prana’ (energy of life) and ‘yama’ (control). Thus it means the practice of regulating your breath and it forms a crucial component of “Yoga” (union), an Indian-origin ‘way of living’ but most people know it for its flexible workouts.
Pranayama is inhalation and exhalation with retention. Thus, Pranayama = Inhalation + Exhalation + Retention. Here, we inhale and exhale through our nostrils and hold the breath in between for a while. There is a popular saying related to a quirky comparison between dogs and tortoises. Usually, dogs with a shorter lifespan breathe heavily but tortoises breathe slowly, and have a longer lifespan. This statement is merely a metaphorical testament to how breathing is an essential decider of our life’s overall wellbeing.
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A handful out of its countless scientifically-backed benefits on our body and mind are perceivable as it gradually –
- Boosts mindfulness deeply
- Reduces stress, tension, anxiety
- Improves your daily blood pressure
- Enhances the quality of your daily sleep
- Allows your lungs to function better everyday
- Profoundly purifies the 80,000 nerves within us
- Increases mental ability by sharpening focus, clarity
- Raises the level of cognitive performance in your body.
In a Gist | 3 Effective Breathing Exercises
So, these were our 3 effective breathing techniques that are easy to follow and can be done anywhere. You also learnt about the benefits of pranayama and how it can alter the shape of your health. The only thing left now is for you to sit and practice these exercises everyday, preferably twice a day for 10-15 minutes.
Undoubtedly, your lungs will open up significantly within a month of your regular practice. But do not forget to follow other rules like not smoking or drinking in this detoxification journey of yours. Couple your health goals with a clean diet and an active lifestyle to see the remarkable shift in your healthy life early.
So what are you waiting for? Schedule your first breathing session today and amp up your lung capacity to reap the full potential of your breathing patterns.
Further Reads:
Do you remain on-screen all night? See its horrendous impact on your body.
Does your bowels struggle to empty up each morning? Try out these drinks to relieve them.
Are you walking daily in a polluted environment? You may want to avoid it after reading this piece.
