10 Reasons to Take Control of your Breathing

Your life is happening between two breaths. The first breath of a child just born and the last breath of a man done living. Both faith and reason agree on the value of breath to life. Breathing is as important as it is easy. However, it can be done in more effective ways than common.

On average, we breathe 20,000 times every 24 hours. However, only a few professional breathers can utilize the full potential of each respiration. If you read this article and apply its principles in every breath, you will enjoy the following rewards:

1. Stronger immune system
2. Enhanced mental health
3. Outstanding physical performance
4. Better sleep and recovery from fatigue
5. Ability to regulate blood pressure
6. Ability to control heart rate
7. Excellent digestion
8. Upright posture
9. Management of chronic pain
10. Temperature adjustment techniques (cooling down / warming up)

As we advance in complex fields of life and science, we have left breathing to instinct, yet it is a crucial aspect of our well-being of which we ought to be more mindful.

Here are two video resources to help you improve your breathing:

Change your breath, Change your life is aTed talk by Lucas Rockwood where he breaks down the power of breathing. He demonstrates it by including three 1-minute breathing exercises. You can take 20 minutes break today, right now, and listen as you engage in the exercises for a deeper dive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BNejY1e9ik — Wim Hof Method Guided breathing for Beginners is among my favorite breathing exercises. I highly recommend it as a daily practice as it takes only 10 minutes and has superb effects.

It is a healthy practice to go out into nature to practice breathing exercises as this compounds with all the other benefits of being in the outdoors.

You could also practice pranayama, the yoga breathing practice, by doing yoga! Any yoga teacher worth their salt will teach you the importance of breath and how to work on it.

There are many times where we wish away physical and mental health problems, big and small, to which breathing better could be an ideal solution. You will do it anyway, so why not take advantage to rip more benefits from it!