3 simple ways to make your breath work for you, and not against you.
Breathing is at the core of our entire wellbeing. We massively underestimate it, because it happens automatically so a lot of the time we don’t even think about it.
On average people take up to 25,000 breaths per day, according to the British Lung Foundation. This function that we do automatically day after day, without fail, is a potential goldmine for enhancing every single aspect of your health.
Breathing has the ability to change our mental and physical state, in the most incredible ways. If done right, it can:
- prevent, and cure illness
- improve brain function
- enhance your physical capacity
- alleviate destructive states of mind and
- harmonise the systems of the body to work in their optimum state
At the other end of the scale when not done right it can lead to a variety of issues from snoring to sleep apnea, high blood pressure to headaches. A study done by the journalist James Nestor for his book Breathe, the New Science of a Lost Art, showed that after just 10 days of breathing only through the mouth he had chronically raised blood pressure, hypertension and his snoring had increased by nearly 5000%, among other shocking effects.
Watch this short video to check if you are breathing in the best way and to give yourself one minute to just breeeeathe.
3 easy steps we can take to ensure we enhance our health with every breath
1) Breathe through the nose (not the mouth)
Nasal breathing has been found to have many benefits; it prevents the effects seen when people breathe through the mouth and breathing through the nose acts as your first line of defense against bacteria and virus, as it provides a filter for the air we breathe, and right now that is the type of defense we really need.
2) Breathe from the diaphragm
We have a tendency to breathe from the chest, due to many reasons such as sitting a lot and compressing the tummy, wearing tight clothes or wanting to have a flat stomach but breathing from the chest is not ideal. Much work has been done by Stephen Elliott, the founder of Coherent Breathing who has found that among other significant benefits breathing from the diaphragm helps to regulate blood pressure and increases blood circulation to the brain by some 500%.
3) Slow your breathing down, way down
Studies have shown that the ‘normal’ rate of breathing in the UK is between 12-20 breaths per minute, and we are breathing faster and faster as time goes on.
Work done by eminent breathing experts Stephen Elliott and Dr Richard Brown have found that when we slow our breathing down to 5 breaths per minute we are placing the systems of our body into an ideal state of maximum efficiency. Breathing at this tempo allows optimum efficiency of the heart, lungs and circulation. It increases circulation of body fluids boosting the brain and enhances oxygen levels at each cell.
*This advice is designed for educational purposes only. You should not rely on this information as a substitute for, nor does it replace, professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Give your team the gift of wellbeing
To learn more about how to enhance your wellbeing through the breath and other simple and effective practises consider these options for you and your team:
Workshops:
Breathe Well – Your First Step to a Healthy Mind & Body
The Total Wellbeing Toolkit – Learn simple and effective practises to help cope and thrive during lockdown and beyond
www.corporate.tulatherapies.com
Sessions:
Connect to Disconnect – Organise 15-minute weekly wellbeing sessions for your teams when everyone logs in to tune out and enjoy a series of guided breathing and meditation practises to calm and soothe the mind and body.
www.corporate.tulatherapies.com/club-zen
For more information contact Alex at hello@tulatherapies.com