Healthy Habit #4: Breathe!

Next in my series of Top 10 Habits to Get Healthy Value For Your Time:

Habit #4: Do five minutes of relaxation breathing each day.

Why?

Relaxation breathing techniques have been found to be beneficial for many different health issues as well as for management of everyday stress. Many studies have been done on the topic of breathing: in my files, I have an 80-page annotated bibliography of research related to breathing. With that amount of literature available on the subject, this post will touch on the basics.

If you take a moment to pay attention to your breathing the next time you feel anxious, upset, or stressed, you will probably notice that your breathing is shallow, tight, and somewhat rapid. With just a few slow, deep, relaxed breaths, you may notice the negative emotional state lessening as well. With practice, the effect can be rapid and dramatic.

However, we often don't remember to breathe when we're in the grip of negative feelings. That's where regular practice comes in. With as little as 5 minutes of breathing practice daily, your body will learn how to drop into a more relaxed state more quickly, and it will become easier to call upon that skill when you need it. The time to learn a new coping skill is when you're calm, not when you're panicking.

How?

Choose a comfortable position, either lying or sitting. If you are sitting, find a position in which your spine is straight, not slumped forward. You may need to sit on a cushion or with your back supported to achieve this comfortably.

The simplest breathing exercise is diaphragmatic (or abdominal) breathing. Most of us breathe from our chest most of the time. Chest breathing is shallower and more rapid than breathing from the abdomen, and is frequently associated with stress and tension. Diaphragmatic breathing is deeper, slower, more regular, and more relaxing.

This exercise may be easiest to do when lying on your back. Place one hand on your upper chest and one on your abdomen. Start by breathing comfortably through your nose. As you breathe, try to make the hand on your abdomen rise as the diaphragm lowers to fill the lungs fully with air. Focus on pushing the belly out as you inhale, and allowing the belly to fall as you exhale. Make the exhalation at least as long as the inhalation. If you begin to feel light-headed, simply either slow your breathing a bit, or make your breaths slightly less deep. With practice this is less likely to be a problem for you.

When?

Breathing can be done at any time of day that fits your schedule. What is most important is to practice on a regular basis.

Where?

While you can do breathing exercises anywhere, it's helpful to choose a place which is relatively quiet and free from distractions.

For more information, a great resource is the book The Relaxation Response, by Herbert Benson MD.

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Comments

[Tracy]

For me I suffer from VERY BAD indoor and outdoor allergies. At work they have been moving things all over the place and stirring up a lot of dust and my head was all blocked up to where I couldn't hear and nothing was working for me.Flonase over the counter is the only medication I trust because I cant even breathe properly at times. Im the type of gal who has enough stress going on and to have this issue not taken care of is very serious. Which thanks to some good medication I can relax and live stress free!

[Melissa H. Kennedy]

@Tracy, thanks for making the point that if you're physically congested then breathing exercises can be difficult to do. Glad the Flonase helps you--many people also get help from nasal irrigation and from avoiding allergens using HEPA filters.