Did you know that some people take more than 30,000 breaths in one day? Breathing is something that we don’t think about but are always doing — in fact, you probably just became conscious of your breath for the first time today! This involuntary process brings air into our lungs to distribute oxygen into our blood. As you know, this process is critical for human life. What you might not have known is that there are benefits to practicing breathing techniques, and that you can actually get better at breathing.
Better at breathing? That’s right! While it’s an automatic process, we can actually improve our breathing when we focus on it. The process of breathing affects many aspects of our lives, which we may have not connected before. For example, your sleeping position affects how you breathe through the night. Lying on your back can actually make it more difficult to breathe for some, which forces the body to work harder to get oxygen while sleeping. This can cause you to lose some of the deep, restorative sleep you would normally get in a good night’s rest, which is why it’s so important to make sure you are in a comfortable position when sleeping. It’s recommended to sleep on your side, with a pillow under your head and between your legs. This allows your spine to stay neutral, rather than twisted, and keeps your body in a natural position to make it easy to get full breaths. Sleeping on your back can put extra tension on the low back and cause your diaphragm to restrict your breath capacity. If you haven’t been feeling particularly rested lately, even after a full eight hours, try bending your legs and putting a pillow under your knees so that your body is in the best position to breathe. This sets you up for success when you’re sleeping and can’t focus consciously on your breath.
Our posture when we’re awake throughout the day can also have an impact on our breathing. If you are slouched over at a desk with your back rounded, shoulders forward, and chin down, you’re not just hurting your posture, you’re actually cutting off your lung capacity! Although you might not notice it, you’re making it harder for the body to get oxygen. This happens because you are limiting the range that the diaphragm can expand, resulting in less space for oxygen in the lungs. Less oxygen in your lungs means less oxygen in your blood, so if you feel like you’re hitting an energy slump, try fixing your posture slump instead of reaching for a cup of coffee!
In addition to improving your breathing posture, meditative breathing or deep breathing has a range of benefits. Taking time to focus on your breathing and connect with your body can lower your heart rate, reduce cortisol levels in the brain, and even release some of the amazing endorphins that we all love. These endorphins also can have a pain-killing effect to make us feel better when we are in pain, which is why you’ve likely been told to take deep breaths if you were ever in a stressful situation. When we focus on taking deep breaths, we can intentionally increase the amount of oxygen that we are giving to our body through our blood. Your mind-body connection can be a pretty powerful thing!
Just like you’d schedule time for a workout, taking time to do breathing exercises benefits us in multiple ways. Not only can it help you feel more relaxed and calm, it also strengthens your diaphragm to help you become a better breather! Strengthening your diaphragm makes your body more efficient at getting oxygen to the blood, which is important for gymgoers, particularly the cardio fans out there. Box breathing is a very common breathing technique that can give you all the benefits of controlled breathing.
To practice box breathing, start by sitting or lying down in a comfortable position. Sitting upright in a chair with good posture or lying on your back with your knees bent are both good places to start. From here, you’ll build a “box” with your breathing. Start by taking a deep breath in for four full seconds and fill your lungs. Once full, hold the air in your lungs for four seconds. Then release the air slowly for four seconds, and hold your lungs empty for four more seconds. Then, you’re back to the beginning of your breathing “box,” and you can start by breathing in. Repeat this cycle of breath 5-10 times, or for as long as you’d like to make it your own meditation. To practice this, it helps some people to draw a square in the air in front of them. For each step in the instructions, draw one line of the square. When you finish the cycle, you’ll have a completed box.
Training for better breathing may sound strange, but it can benefit your body and your health in a host of different ways! Next time you schedule your next gym workout, try to make time for breathing, too.
