Source:MDINDIA TPA
Practice deep breathing for Stress relief
To effectively combat stress, we need to activate
the body’s natural relaxation response. The relaxation response is a
physical state of deep rest that changes the physical and emotional
responses to stress (e.g., decreases in heart rate, blood pressure, rate
of breathing, and muscle tension).
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| Spending 5 to 10 minutes per day to practice deep
breathing can improve your overall health. Deep breathing reduces
stress, relaxes your muscles, improve your oxygen intake and delivery to
all your organs and stimulate your lymphatic system. |
| Few breathing techniques…
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| 1. Sama Vritti or “Equal Breathing” |
| To start, inhale for a count of four, then exhale for a
count of four — all through the nose, which adds a natural resistance
to the breath. Got the basic pranayama down? More advanced yogis can aim
for six to eight counts per breath with the same goal in mind: calm the
nervous system, increase focus and reduce stress.
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| 2. Abdominal Breathing Technique
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| With one hand on the chest and the other on the
belly, take a deep breath in through the nose, ensuring the diaphragm
(not the chest) inflates with enough air to create a stretch in the
lungs. The goal: Six to 10 deep, slow breaths per minute for 10 minutes
each day to experience immediate reductions to heart rate and blood
pressure, Keep at it for six to eight weeks, and those benefits might
stick around even longer. |
| 3. Nadi Shodhana or “Alternate Nostril Breathing”
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| This breath is said to bring calm and balance, and
unite the right and left sides of the brain. Starting in a comfortable
meditative pose, hold the right thumb over the right nostril and inhale
deeply through the left nostril. At the peak of inhalation, close off
the left nostril with the ring finger, then exhale through the right
nostril. Continue the pattern, inhaling through the right nostril,
closing it off with the right thumb and exhaling through the left
nostril.
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| 4. Kapalabhati or “Skull Shining Breath”
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| Ready to brighten up your day from the inside out?
This one begins with a long, slow inhale, followed by a quick, powerful
exhale generated from the lower belly. Once comfortable with the
contraction, up the pace to one inhale-exhale (all through the nose)
every one to two seconds, for a total of 10 breaths | | | |
