The way you breathe — fast or slow, shallow or deep — sends messages to your body that affect your mood, stress level, blood pressure, immune function and more. One of the most basic of all breathing techniques is to make sure you’re always breathing through your nose. Mouth breathing decreases tissue oxygenation, elevates your heart rate and blood pressure and has many other adverse health effects. Most people chronically over breathe. Breathing less is a sign of better health. Conversely, the more you breathe, the more likely you are to experience significant health problems! Sounds strange but it is true; slow deep breaths leads to better health. Another near-universal breathing abnormality is breathing vertically rather than horizontally, which triggers your sympathetic nervous system and makes you feel stressed. Vertical breathing makes you feel a bit taller on the in-breath, as it raises your chest and shoulders. The problem is that this kind of breathing actually triggers your sympathetic nervous system, basically signaling your body that you’re stressed. Correct breathing will cause your midsection to widen, while not raising your shoulders or puffing out the upper part of your chest. This is the horizontal breath. At first, you may find it difficult to take a proper breath, as your midsection and diaphragm may be tight. Practice daily taking deep breaths allowing your ribcage to expand outwards. I recommend 10 deep breaths every hour.
