Are you a breath holder? A lot of us are, especially when stressed.
In certain cases, holding our breath can actually work to train the lungs. Think of professional swimmers. Maybe you’ve noticed yourself breathing easier after a summer of swimming and holding your breath under water!
In many cases, though, we should be breathing through difficult moments, rather than restricting air intake by holding our breath.
There are tricks you can try when breathing that can bring you numerous physical and mental health benefits. Today we’ll explore a different way to breathe, with our feature article, Health Benefits of Breathwork.
Breathwork affords multidimensional health benefits including:
- Lowering and regulating blood pressure
- Regulating the nervous system
- Improving the quality of our sleep
- Reducing anxiety, depression and symptoms of stress
- Improving immune system function
- Reducing asthma and allergies
- Increasing longevity
Breathing exercises can help us feel calmer, more centered and in control. Learning to breathe in better health can help us in a variety of real-life situations.
Being in control, and command of our own breath can help us to:
- Feel calmer and more confident (by regulating the nervous system so we’re not as likely to react when provoked)
- Increase energy levels (because we’re adding oxygen to the blood)
- Maintain a healthy body weight (less stress means less stress eating)
Breathwork has proven useful in the following real-life applications:
- Treating trauma and addiction
- Stress management
- Weight management
- Athletic performance
- Vocal training – speech and singing
Breathing tools also help professionals to optimize their abilities and handle work in high stress environments. Breath awareness and practice methods transform both mental and physical health and increase our levels of resilience.
Breathwork is used by:
- First Responders
- Opera singers
- Navy seals
- Public speakers
- Yoga practitioners
- Olympic medalists
- Deep sea divers