10 Reasons to Take a Deep Breath Every Day
Inhale.. exhale…
We breathe to live, but did you know the life-changing benefits deep breathing can have? No, we are not exaggerating.
Practicing some deep breathing each day can decrease stress, relax your mind and body, can improve your sleep, and help ease anxieties, and much more.
These are some of our favourite benefits of deep breathing:
1. Your heart rate slows, more oxygen enters your blood stream and communicates with the brain to relax.
Deep breathing slows down your heart rate, allows the body to take in more oxygen and ultimately signals the brain to wind down. Experts and psychologists often suggest this as a quick hack to help treat nervousness and anxious thoughts.
2. Improves your immune response, keeping you stronger and healthier.
Deep breathing welcomes fresh oxygen and exhales out toxins and carbon dioxide. Well oxygenated blood ensures smoother functioning of your vital organs, including the immune system. Deep breathing also acts as a natural toxin reliever.
3. Clears up foggy thinking and improves memory, attention, focus and concentration.
Focusing on and regulating your breathing you can optimise your attention levels and focus on your attention level.
4. Decreases blood pressure and slows down your heart rate.
Deep, slow breathing is the oldest and best-known technique to decrease stress. Stress can certainly raise blood pressure. And stress reduction can lower blood pressure, frequently improving overall well-being.
5. Helps support correct posture.
Bad posture can be linked to incorrect breathing. Next time you take a deep breath, notice that you simultaneously lengthen and straighten your spine.
6. Stimulates the thoughtful pre-frontal cortex part of your brain.
Your prefrontal cortex is home to self-awareness, attentiveness, and emotion regulation. Breathing techniques teach students how to use their body to help them consciously calm down.
7. Increases energy. The more oxygen that is in the blood, the better our body functions. It also improves our stamina.
When we take deep breaths, the upward and downward movement of the diaphragm helps remove the toxins from the body promoting better blood flow.
8. Allows you to ‘pause’ or ‘reset’, moving you out of a flight-fight-freeze state, into a relax & responsive state.
Taking deep breaths sends a message to your brain to calm down and relax. The brain then signals your body to relax. Deep breathing lowers stress in the body and increases relaxation.
9. Improves digestion. Healthier blood flow will promote your organs to function more effectively, including your intestines.
Deep breathing moves more oxygen to all body parts including our digestive system. This makes it work more efficiently. The increased blood flow from deep breathing also enhances optimal digestion.
10. Sends a message to the brain that everything will be okay and that you can get through the hard things.
When you are angry, tensed or scared, your muscles are tightened, and your breathing becomes shallow. During this your body is not getting the amount of oxygen it requires. Long deep breathing acts in reverse, allowing your body and your mind to become calmer.
