Benefits of deep breathing

Life moves fast. And our minds move faster. With blood pressure rising, heart racing and tears forming, it can be hard to take a deep breath and slow down. Emotions take control and it is difficult to take a step back, take a deep breath and recoup your thoughts. It stinks, doesn’t it? 

Well, what happens when people do not take the time to calm down? Oh, just all the fun stuff. Denise Everheart from The Art of Living states that “confusion, low energy, strained heart rate, rapid shallow breathing, gasping and even sweating” occurs when our breathing is not deep and calm enough. If that is not the most fun in the world, I’m not sure what is.  

As life can get out of hand, it is important that people work to figure out a breathing technique that works best for them. 4-7-8 is one example of the many breathing techniques that are used every day. Health Inspiration explains the technique as “inhaling for four seconds, holding the breath for seven seconds and then exhaling for eight seconds.” Not too bad, huh? Try it with me, ready? Breathe in for four seconds, hold your breath for seven seconds, now exhale for eight seconds. How do you feel?

Finding a breathing technique that works best for you helps most of your body. It helps the mind, heart and any muscles that tense up during a high amount of stress, resulting in shallow breathing.  

Moving on, it is always important that you be cautious when taking deep breaths. Weird, right? Being told to take deep breaths and then being told to be cautious. Well, it turns out that taking too many deep breaths at one time will result in you becoming lightheaded. Feeling lightheaded from any breathing exercise is normal, but it would not be good for someone to become lightheaded to the point where they lose their balance.  

To provide guidance, Dr. Andrew Weil suggests to “not do more than four breaths [of 4-7-8] at one time for the first month of practice.” Dr. Weil suggests this as your body needs time to get used to this deep breathing exercise. After a month, you can then try eight breaths at a time.  

It is hard to attempt breathing exercises when you’re mad, sad and experiencing any other kind of emotion to the state where your breathing gets out of control. Trust me, I would know, I’ve been there. But over the years, I have worked on breathing exercises, and they are worth it. So, give it a try.