Breathing Better Today:The Importance and Wonder of Respiration
Sometimes the best thing you can do for yourself is to take a nice, deep breath. It sounds simple, but it’s one of our body’s most vital needs. When was the last time you let your lungs fill, and then completely empty? Let go of all the stress and take one conscientious breath? Feel the rejuvenating air flow through your body? Though breathing is an automatic function of our bodies, it's an ever-integral part of our health. Yet for many of us, we underutilize our breathing to best benefit us.
Today, we’re going to share some important tips on how you can start breathing better. Sharing the health benefits of proper breathing is a key part of our mission here at Original Breath Builder. Inspired by the intentions of the Original Breath Builder’s creator Harold Hanson, we continue to serve by making a product that helps foster better, healthier breathing techniques.
But to fully understand the usefulness of breathing properly, we need to think about the sciene that goes into our respiration. Our breathing is controlled by our body’s respiratory systems, an integral structure of our being that allows oxygen to travel through the body. To many, it looks like a confusing tangle of lungs and bronchial tubes. But it’s critical in keeping us alive and healthy. For example, when we breathe we don’t just take in oxygen, we breathe in air. It’s then up to the structures in our lungs to filter out the oxygen from the rest of the stuff in there. Although our respiratory system is integral to our bodies, it is also very fragile, which is why we feel sick from things like allergies and smoking.
Many things can affect the health of our lungs, but there are also many ways for you to help your breathing. They mainly fall under deep breathing- a fairly easy process in which you take a deeper breath than usual while thinking about how that breath affects your body. Many of you have likely tried it in our more health-aware society. Some of you might feel a bit unused to it or even awkward when you breathe in deep. That’s okay: if the benefits of deep breathing are rooted in science, you don’t need anything too special to start doing it right.
Simply, find a quiet place, or even a quiet moment if that’s all you have at your disposal. Put your body at rest, clear your mind for a second, and relax any tension you have. Then, breathe in slowly through your nose, and exhale through your mouth. Kind of like if you are using an exercise machine, but without the stress of working out (or being judged by others at the gym). You can even put a hand on your stomach to feel the gentle puff of your diaphragm. Repeat this only a couple times. Then, you’re pretty much done. It really is that simple. You might feel a little odd doing it, but with time and practice it becomes more natural.
And if you're dedicated to it, deep breathing could grant you some extra benefits. Two reasons deeper breathing has become so popular are because of stress relief and athleticism.
Stress: Our current mood is often best shown by how we breathe. When we feel anxious, our breathing is sharp and fast. When we feel relaxed, we take deeper, richer, and longer breaths. With deep breathing, we can experience that latter feeling more often. Taking deeper breaths has been shown to remove the sense of worry we may have by distracting our mind.
Athleticism: When we exercise, we often become somewhat aware of our breathing. Exhaling for effort during a rep, inhaling during the recovery. But many athletes also take great care in deep breathing. It can increase the efficiency of exercises like running and swimming, which heavily rely on good breath control. It can even help with recovery by providing the muscles more air to heal with.
We at Original Breath Builder always want to welcome you back to your breath- whether it’s for your musical training, fitness, or wellbeing, and coming back to the practice of deep breathing is a simple, powerful way to support yourself. And, of course, if you’re looking for an even bigger lung workout- we’ve got just the thing.
Breathing is something we do everyday, so it's a good idea to start improving it with deep breathing. Try incorporating it when you’re free next. The benefits can blow you away!
Now go out there and take a nice, fresh breath!
