We take an average of 23000 breaths a day. How many of them do you take consciously?
We breathe in many different ways depending on our activity and situation. The breath adapts to our needs constantly; nevertheless, we may have adapted bad breathing habits and we may over breathe when we are resting. How is your breathing when you are resting?
Take a moment to be aware of your breathing right now. It helps to put one hand on your belly and the other one on your chest.
Now just notice without changing anything:
+ Are you breathing through your mouth or nose?
+ How fast or slow are you breathing?
+ Are you breathing more into your chest or more into your belly?
+ Do you notice a natural pause after your exhalation?
+ Do you hold your breath at times?
+ Does it feel easier to inhale or exhale?
+ Do you sigh often?
Practice healthy breathing while resting:
– Always breathe through the nose, even when you exercise.
Mouth breathing has many downsides (more on this on my next post) especially over breathing, which leads to loss of CO2 and less oxygenation of the blood.
– Breathe into your belly – stimulates your vagus nerve sending a calming message to your brain and nervous system.
– Slow down your breathing rhythm. Practice coherence breathing regularly (I posted a video showing this technique- don’t miss it!). The lighter and more silently your breath is, the healthier your nervous system 😊.
My daily practice here is checking in with my breath at least three times a day and slowing it down for three minutes. This works WONDERS!
Try it and let me know how you’re doing.
Share if you care!
And watch your breath 😉
xx
Alicia