The Benefits of Breathing Exercises

If you’re looking to reduce stress and anxiety, improve lung function & open your airways, and expand your horizon to what’s possible, breathing exercises can help.

Breathing exercises don’t have to be performed on their own either. By engaging in focused breathing techniques during meditation, yoga, exercise, on your morning walk, at your office desk, or in between bites of lunch, you can begin to experience the vast benefits of the human breath.

The good news is that breathing is a biological, unconscious act that’s regulated by the autonomic nervous system, or ANS. So fortunate for you, there’s not much thinking involved when it comes to breathing exercises!

Jokes aside, and contrary to popular belief, breathing is an incredible tool to utilize for our health, wellness, and human potential. It’s what provides us with the oxygen we need to function throughout the day; it’s what allows us to have energy for even the most difficult of endeavors; it’s what gives us life.

In this article, you’ll learn about the benefits of breathing, what types of breathing exercises are at your disposal, how to begin such a regimen, and lastly, the importance of habit and human potential.

So if you’re excited to learn more about the wonders of the breath, you’re going to want to continue reading!

The Benefits of Breathing Exercises

Sure, breathing is what keeps us, humans, alive. But what if I told you that there’s more to breathing than meets the eye? In other words, that what if I told you that breathing offers a number of health benefits much like exercise, sleep, and nutrition does.

You see, since breathing is quite an unconscious act, we tend to forget that we have control over it. Because of this, when we find ourselves in a stressful situation, for example, our breathing becomes erratic and we allow it to become erratic, unconsciously. This is a prime example of NOT using our breath to our advantage.

However, by becoming conscious of our breath and practicing control through breathing exercises, we gain back the power and begin to expand our horizons. Once this becomes a habit, we begin to truly unlock the wonderful benefits of breathing.

Below is a list, not all-encompassing, of the most common and prevailing benefits of breathing and breathing exercises:

• Reduces Stress and Anxiety
• Lowers Health Biomarkers: Blood Pressure, Heart Rate, etc.
• Improves Symptoms of Poor Health
• Increases Oxygen Flow, and thus, Energy Levels
• Relieves Mental Fatigue and Improves Cognitive Function
• Eliminates or Greatly Reduces Symptoms of Depression
• Helps Manage Pain and Discomfort
• Assists the Regulation of the Bodies Biological Mechanisms
• Reduces Fatigue
• Improves Restful Sleep
• Better Focus and Mental Clarity
• Enhances Mood and Creativity
• Boosts Athletic Performance

It’s time for breathing to stop being treated as an unconscious mechanism of the human experience and start being appreciated for the benefits that it provides through conscious practice and habit.

Ok, so great, now you know the benefits of breathing and the implementation of breathing exercises. But how do you begin such a regimen? How do you perform and execute proper breathing techniques?

These questions and more will now be discussed!

How to Begin

While breathing may seem like an unconscious, innate human function, we tend to ignore what breathing truly does for our mind, body, and soul. With that being said, exercising your breath doesn’t have to take a ton of your time like physical exercise typically would, nor should it.

By simply learning a few basic breathing techniques and implementing them throughout your day in 3-5 minute increments, you can begin to experience the wonders of breathing that you never thought possible.

For starters, begin with just five minutes a day and increase the duration at your discretion and convenience. On the contrary, if you find that five minutes is too long, narrow it down to 2-3 minutes.

Whether it’s during your morning meditation, before a stressful event, or before going to bed, implementing intentional breathing exercises in your day-to-day doesn’t have to be a nuisance and should be quite soothing.

Now that you know how to begin, it’s time to become aware of the various types of breathing exercises so that you can choose which ones are most suitable for YOU!

Let’s get into it. 

Types of Breathing Exercises

There are several types of breathing exercises one can embark upon, however, below is a list of some of the most common.

• Diaphragmatic Breathing
• Focused Breathing
• Deep Breathing
• Coherent Breathing
• Equal Nasal Breathing
• Alternate Nostril Breathing
• Sitali Breathing
• Lion’s Breathing

It’s worth noting that while each breathing exercise encompasses its own techniques and execution methods, all of them can be simply narrowed down to a simple step-by-step guide shown below:

• Step 1: Find Comfort – Whether sitting down or lying down, find a position that works best for you. As a helpful tip, simply ensure that the position allows you to expand your lungs without disruption.
• Step 2: Deep Breathes – Once situated, initiate the exercise with a repetition of deep breathes to prime the body and mind. Inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth.
• Step 3: Recover – After the breathing exercise is complete, begin to find the rhythm of your normal breath again. Afterward, you should feel a sense of calm, relaxation, and clarity. Repeat as many times as necessary.

* this step-by-step guide is brought to you by Wim How, a famous motivational speaker, extreme athlete, and greater of the Wim Hof Method.

The Power of Habit 

Without the implementation of habit, nothing is really worth doing.

That’s quite an extreme statement to make. However, think about it. Doing anything once will not provide you with any long-term benefit or satisfaction. You will not grow from it, learn from it, or seek the lasting benefits from it. This is, of course, generally speaking…

However, by making something a habit, it becomes a part of you and your daily life. If that something is positive, your life can change for the better quite drastically. This, in short, is the case for implementing a consistent breathing exercise regimen into your habitual, daily life.

Decide today to expand your horizon to what’s possible by implementing breathing exercises into your daily life. You’ll thank yourself later.

“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”

Article Written By: Andrew Wood