By now, you probably are aware of the breathing techniques you can do while meditating, but what are the breathing techniques for your heart and brain? Curious to know what they are? This post will talk about these practices and how you can benefit from practicing them every day.
Breathing Techniques for Your Heart and Brain
As you age, your body’s ability to heal correctly also declines. Which is it is best to know different techniques to improve your heart and brain’s health. Breathing techniques help improve your body’s oxygen supply. When the oxygen supply in the body is enough, major organs like the brain and heart remain healthy. Here are eight techniques that you can do.
Mindful breathing
It involves your awareness when you are breathing and focusing on it. When you focus on your breath, you slow down your breathing pattern, making you feel more relaxed as you focus on the air going in and out of your lungs, nose, and mouth. This is also known as mindfulness meditation.
Belly breathing
This breathing technique is one of the easiest ways to practice. It is done by feeling the air move in your belly or abdominal area. To do this, you must lie down on the bed or floor as you place your hand on your stomach. By inhaling slowly through the nose, notice how your abdomen rises. As you exhale, you contract the muscles in your belly and push them out of your lungs. Doing this exercise for 20 to 30 minutes daily will help reduce your stress and anxiety.
4-7-8 Breathing exercise
This kind of exercise is also called relaxing breath and acts as a natural tranquilizer for your nervous system. To do this, you need to sit down with your back straight or while lying in bed. You can practice this technique by placing and keeping the tip of your tongue against the ridge of the tissues behind your upper teeth. Exhale through the mouth by making a whooshing sound. Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose as you mentally count to four. After this, hold your breath as you count to seven, exhale completely through your mouth and count to eight as you make a whooshing sound.
Nostril breathing
It is considered to be one of the easiest ways to practice breathing exercises. This technique is an excellent way to reduce anxiety and agitation. Breathe through one nostril and take in air through the other slowly. Switch on the other side, closing off the second nostril while breathing through the first one. Repeat the same steps until you feel better and calmer.
Diaphragmatic Breathing
This kind of breathing exercise is excellent for lowering blood pressure. It mainly focuses on strengthening the diaphragm so you can breathe efficiently. Diaphragm breathing brings more oxygen into the body, which helps nourish the brain and heart muscles [1].
To do this exercise, you must lie on your back while supporting the neck with pillows as you bend your knees. Place one hand on your chest while the other just beneath your rib cage. The hand you placed under your rib cage should rise when inhaling slowly through your nose while the other stays in place. Purse your lips when exhaling as you do this. The hand placed on your chest should remain still while the one under the rib cage falls. Continue doing this until you feel calm and relaxed.
Pranayama breathing
This type of breathing technique is a cleansing breath method used in yoga practices. According to experts, pranayama breathing can cleanse all 72,000 channels in the body [2]. To do this practice, you begin by inhaling through your mouth and exhaling through the nose repeatedly until you feel relaxed. It helps clear the respiratory system and clean the blood in your body. As a result, enough oxygen is supplied to the heart and body.
Mantra breathing
It is a breathing exercise used to help you focus on your breath. This practice is done by repeating a mantra or phrase to yourself to create focus. You repeat this mantra until you become relaxed or as you meditate.
Music-guided breathing exercises
One of the easiest yet effective ways of lowering blood pressure is music-guided breathing exercises. There are several ways you can practice this. One is through free programs you can find on YouTube or Spotify. There are a series of breathing exercise music where the narrator guides you through it. These directed or narrated piece helps you feel more relaxed as it helps activate your parasympathetic nervous system. When you feel comfortable, your blood pressure also lowers down.
Exercising Breathing Techniques for Your Heart and Brain is a Big Help
Our daily lives consist of stress and events we do not expect. Sometimes, these situations can get the best of us. It is crucial to take care of ourselves, and breathing exercises are one way to improve that. Hopefully, our list of breathing exercises can help you with that. Practicing them every day will surely benefit your heart and brain in many ways.
