Breathing Exercises
Can someone breathe incorrectly? Even though we have been doing it all our lives, day in and day out, the answer is yes! Should I breathe through my mouth or my nose, and does it even matter? These are common questions that will be covered here.
First, there are two types of breathing, costal (rib) breathing and diaphragmatic (belly) breathing. Let me explain; both breathing types pull in oxygen, but one is far superior to the other. Costal or rib breathing describes the breath that raises your chest up and out like you are trying to act tough and puff out your chest. This fills mostly the upper part of your lungs with air, the area that does not utilize oxygen as efficiently. Compared to diaphragmatic breathing, costal breathing requires more breathes more often while taking in less oxygen. That doesn’t sound good at all; more work for less result!
Diaphragmatic or belly breathing is the far superior choice. The diaphragm has connections to the lower part of the lungs, so when you take a breath, it allows oxygen to fill the whole lung field. Also, the lower portion of the lungs is far better at using oxygen, so you are taking fewer breaths while retaining more oxygen. When you utilize belly breathing, it activates the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve helps us get into a parasympathetic state without being too wordy. This is the “rest and digest” portion of our nervous system. In doing so, you can aid your body in a better state for recovery and healing.
Next, we tackle the debate of nose vs. mouth breathing. Whether exercising or just relaxing at home, inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth is the best option. Inhaling through the nose allows for more oxygen transportation and more nitric oxide transportation. It will enable the blood vessels in your body to transport more oxygen to your bodily organs and tissues than inhaling through your mouth.
Finally, this is how you breathe correctly. There are a couple of methods that are utilized that achieve great results
The first method is box breathing. This utilizes the “belly breathing” that we discussed above, if you feel your chest raise at all you are doing it incorrectly. You will take a big inhale through your nose for 5 seconds, making sure to feel your belly button using outward. You will hold that inhale for 5 seconds. Then exhale through your mouth for 5 seconds, feeling your belly button return to its normal position.
It’s named box breathing because inhale/hold/exhale are all the same length of time. It helps if you close your eyes and picture drawing the sides of the box with the seconds counted. We recommend that you start small, maybe 5-10 rounds of these breaths, eventually leading to 5-10 minutes of breathing.
The second method we recommend is the 4-7-8 breathing exercise developed by Dr. Andrew Weil. For this exercise, the goal is to simply exhale for twice as long as you inhale, stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system. To start, sit up straight and relax the tip of your tongue against the back of the front teeth. Using only your nose, breath in for 4 counts again, feeling your belly button push outwards. Hold your breath for 7 seconds. After 7 seconds, exhale through your mouth for 8 seconds, making a whooshing sound through the lips as you release the air. Repeat this breathing cycle four times. This breathing exercise has been proven to be beneficial for relaxation and improving sleep.
