3 Deep Breathing Exercises that will Change your Life!

Summary

The web content introduces three deep breathing exercises that can significantly improve mental and physical well-being, including stress reduction, better sleep, and enhanced mindfulness.

Abstract

The article titled "3 Deep Breathing Exercises that will Change your Life!" emphasizes the transformative power of intentional breathing practices. It highlights the common tendency to engage in shallow breathing and the benefits of deep breathing for stress management, sleep enhancement, and increased mindfulness. The author, Ashley Nicole, details three specific exercises: the 4–7–8 technique for sleep improvement, diaphragmatic or "belly breathing" for stress reduction, and the Lion's Breath for releasing negative energy. These exercises are supported by a Yale study that found breathing exercises to be highly effective in promoting mental health, social connectedness, and positive emotions, while reducing stress, depression, and improving mindfulness. The article encourages readers to incorporate these exercises into their daily routines for a life-changing impact.

Opinions

The author believes that most people engage in shallow breathing without being conscious of their breathing patterns throughout the day.
Deep breathing is portrayed as a simple yet effective tool for managing stress and improving sleep quality.
The author suggests that deep breathing can significantly aid in achieving mindfulness and provide a mental reset during stressful moments.
The Yale study mentioned in the article is seen as strong evidence supporting the efficacy of breathing exercises in improving overall well-being.
Diaphragmatic breathing is considered the "mac daddy" of deep breathing exercises, indicating its high regard by the author for stress management.
The Lion's Breath exercise is described with enthusiasm, highlighting its fun and cathartic nature for releasing negative energy.

3 Deep Breathing Exercises that will Change your Life!

You will be surprised to find what just a few deep breaths can do for your body and mind.

Photo of author by author

Thankfully, breathing is something we all do every day, but do we actually think about our breathing? Are we conscious of how we are breathing throughout the day? The answer to both is probably no.

We go about our busy days doing what is called “shallow breathing” and not taking advantage of what our lungs are truly capable of. The simple act of deep breathing can help you mentally and physically in many ways.

Stress Reduction- Whether you are in a moment of stress or chronically stressed, deep breathing can really help. We all have those moments when we feel so stressed we don’t know how to calm ourselves down. Taking a moment to implement at least one of the deep breathing exercises I will discuss in this article will be a life saver!

Sleep- If you are having a hard time sleeping at night, feeling restless or just find that you have a lot on your mind then deep breathing can help slow down your heart rate, help you relax and slip off to dreamland a little easier.

Mindfulness- Deep breathing really helps you slow down and forces you to be present in the moment. Focusing just on the act of breathing deeply can help you refocus and feel rejuvenated. For me, it feels like a fresh start. This also ties back to reducing stress in any given moment. Sometimes we just need that moment of mindfulness to make our bodies and mind feel better.

A study done by a research team at Yale evaluated the impact of the following three interventions: Breathing Exercises, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, and Foundations of Emotional Intelligence. Participants were randomly assigned and they concluded that the people who practiced breathing exercises experienced the greatest mental health, social connectedness, positive emotions, stress levels, depression, and mindfulness benefits.

There are many different breathing exercises out there. Today I will just focus on three which I have found to be the most life changing.

1. 4–7–8:

This is a great breathing exercise for those of you having a hard time sleeping at night. By counting while you are breathing it takes your mind off of whatever it is that is keeping you awake and helps calm your body for sleep. To perform this exercise, exhale all of the air from your lungs. Breathe in through your nose for 4 seconds. Hold your breath for 7 seconds. Exhale through your mouth for 8 seconds. You will want to repeat this at least 4–5 times. When doing this deep breathing exercise I just do as many as I can with the time I have at the moment. I notice that I feel much better after doing at least five but if I can do ten or more then that is even better!

2. Diaphragmatic Breathing:

This is also known as “belly breathing.” This is the mac daddy of all deep breathing! You ready? Ok, good. You can perform this exercise sitting or lying down, whichever is more comfortable for you. Make sure your shoulders are back. Put one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly. Breathe in deeply for 2 seconds. This is when you should see your belly extend and stick out.

Don’t worry about how you look. If you look like you have just eaten a big burrito then you are probably doing it right.

Breathe out slowly through your lips. Repeat and do as many as you feel you need at the moment. Everyone is different but the more you practice the better. This is a great deep breathing exercise for stress reduction. It can be used in a moments notice to help you in any given situation that might come up and stress you throughout the day. This is also a great exercise to do throughout the day, regardless. You have a break at work? Take 10 of these belly breaths to calm and recharge you as you go back to work. Start a routine to take 5–10 of these deep breaths right when you wake up in the morning. It really opens up those lungs and gets your day started off on the right foot.

3. Lion’s Breath

Now this is a FUN one! Are you feeling bad energy and need to do something to release it all? This is the breathing exercise for you! Take a deep breath through your nose. Tilt your head back, close your eyes, stick out your tongue and RELEASE all that negative energy out through your mouth like a lion as you raise your arms 90 degrees out to your side (also known as cactus arms). Make noises if you want to. Get it all out!

You feel better now?

Final Thoughts:

Whether you are having a hard time sleeping, stressed, need to release some negative energy or just need to hit that restart button… try one, or better yet all three, of these deep breathing exercises. 4–7–8, diaphragmatic breathing and lion’s breath are all excellent exercises to make part of your daily routine. You will soon see that they will change your life!