The Many Benefits of Deep Breathing

In all my years of working with clients in the health and wellness field, rarely do I run across someone challenged by stress and illness that is conscious of their breathing habits let alone conscious of the true benefits deep breathing can offer them.

Bottom line: When we are stressed our healthy breathing goes right out the window! And then our unhealthy breathing actually can perpetuate the stress, and also create physical symptoms that cause us discomfort.

When you learn to become conscious of your breath and practice deep breathing, you develop the ability to support your autonomic nervous system and positively impact your health. Most of us think we don’t have any control over what our autonomic nervous system chooses to do or not to do…that simply isn’t true.

Deep breathing is one way to support your autonomic nervous system in regulating itself when stress takes over.

When our nervous system becomes overly aroused by emotional stressors it can trigger a number of physiological responses such as:

Pupils dilating
Increased secretion of sweat glands
Skeletal muscles tightening
Increased heart rate
Digestive system shut down
Constriction of blood vessels
Inhibited insulin secretion
Secretion of adrenalin

Learning to regulate your nervous system by practicing deep breathing can be a wonderful tool in shifting the above physiological responses to what I’ve listed here below.

Decreased and normal heart rate
Blood vessels dilate—so your blood can flow freely and throughout your body
Skeletal muscles relax
Digestion resumes normal functioning
Insulin secretion is normalized
Sweat glands secrete normally
Brain functions normally
Pupils constrict

Deep Breathing Exercise:

Step 1) For the next sixty-seconds, (watch your clock) and breath at your typical rate of breathing. Don’t try to practice deep breathing right now. Just simply breathe as you always do. While doing so, count how many breaths you take in the next sixty seconds.

Step 2) Write down the number of breaths you took in those sixty-seconds you were timing yourself

Step 3) Now, practice inhaling to the count of five…1-2-3-4-5, and then exhaling to the count of five…1-2-3-4-5. Don’t count too fast or too slow. See if you can count to the timing of one second per number. Practice inhaling through your nose to the count of five and exhaling through your nose to the count of five for the next sixty seconds.

You might notice that in order to inhale to the count of five you will need to breathe deeply into your abdomen. No one takes a full breath naturally by the time they count to three unless they are thoracic breathers. Allow your abdomen to fill.

For ease, you can try this lying down on your back and holding your hands over your abdomen. Focus on every breath coming in slowly as it fills your lungs and abdomen. Make sure your shoulders, neck, jaw, and face are relaxed. Deep and proper breathing requires the support and use of your diaphragm, (not your neck and shoulders.)

Step 4) Once you’ve got the hang of it, allow yourself to gently and fully breathe at this 1-2-3-4-5 pace for the next five minutes. Give your body and your mind a chance to connect and integrate this new way of breathing.

Step 5) When you are complete, check in with yourself and see how you feel.

Are you calmer than when you began?
Do you feel relaxed?
How do the muscles in your body feel?
What’s different about the way you feel in your body now?
Do you feel more connected or comfortable in your body?
What does your circulation feel like?

Step 6) Congratulate yourself! If you managed to inhale to the count of five and exhale to the count of five successfully than you managed to regulate your body to breathing at an optimal rate, (which by the way is six breaths per minute.) If you are over six breaths per minute, that’s okay too. Simply continue to practice this exercise daily and see if you can at least lower your breaths per minute that you wrote down in step 2.

Even if you practice this exercise once a day for 5-15 minutes I believe you will discover a greater sense of peace and well-being throughout your day. Give it a shot! See for yourself what less than 15 minutes of self care a day can do for your mind, body and well-being.