How to Breathe for Health

Are you too tense to take a breath? Learn how to improve your breathing. Feel better, have more energy.
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To ensure good health: eat lightly, breathe deeply, live moderately, cultivate cheerfulness, and maintain an interest in life.   
                          —William Londen

10 Simple Steps to Breathing Better

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Breathing freely and deeply can set you on the path to better health. To breathe in and out is basic. It’s automatic and natural. Breathing correctly has benefits for many systems in the body. Most people can easily learn these ten simple steps to breathe in a healthy way.

1. Sit Quietly
Find a comfortable position. Sit upright in a chair or lie down on your back. Turn off the phone, close the door, and avoid any kind of interruption. Bring your attention to your whole body at rest.
2. Test Your Breathing Style
Place one hand on your chest. Place the other hand on your abdomen. Take a few natural, easy breaths. Pay attention to which hand moves more. If the hand on your chest moves more, you are likely taking short, shallow breaths. When the hand on your belly moves in and out, you are taking deeper breathes from the diaphragm
3. Inhale Through Nose
Leave the mouth closed and take in a slow breath through the nose. Breathe in to the belly so that the hand on the abdomen rises. This is diaphragmatic breathing or “belly breathing.”
4. Count to Four
Inhale slowly and easily. Count to 4 as you breathe in through the nose gently. Breathing in the nose warms the air before it reaches the lungs. It also allows the nose hairs to filter out impurities instead of taking them into the lungs.
5. Exhale Through Lips
Purse your lips as if you are about to whistle. Press down the belly muscles to push out the air. Allow the breath to slowly leave through pursed lips. 
6. Count to Eight
As you exhale, count to 8. The slower exhale should take about twice as long as the inhale. Breathing out through pursed lips slows the breath and expels more carbon dioxide to better oxygenate the blood.
7. Exhale Thoroughly
When you breathe out, use your belly muscles to push out all of the air. This allows all new fresh air to refill the lungs on the next breath in. When you don’t exhale fully, too little air is replaced. A complete exhale allows for a full inhale.
8. Mind Wanders
If your mind wanders, just draw your attention back to your breaths and continue the counting, four inhale, eight exhale. It is natural for the mind to wander. Just keep bringing it back and focusing on breathing in and out.
9. Stop and Relax
When you stop the patterned breathing, don’t jump right up and get active. Allow yourself some time to relax and feel the calm.
10. Practice Every Day
Whenever you can, practice this belly breathing for 5 deep breaths or more, increasing the time as you gain experience. It is also a good idea to check in periodically throughout the day and take a few good deep breaths, no matter what you are doing.
Practicing belly breathing makes your diaphragm stronger. It’s ironic, but most of us do naturally breathe from the diaphragm when we are sleeping. Then we change to shallow chest breathing after we wake and get moving. Paying attention to your breathing can help you to change to more healthy breathing habits.
Note: If you have breathing difficulties, such as asthma or CoPD, you may want to find out more about your total breath capacity. A healthcare professional can administer a spirometry test to find out your lung function numbers.

Making a conscious effort to learn proper breathing habits has many health dividends. Want to learn more? Read this article about the benefits of belly breathing.

Did you enjoy these steps to better breathing? Read more articles about health and wellness at Well-Being.

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