Breathe right
We don’t breathe enough. And we know it!
Have you noticed that you immediately feel better and lighter when you take a deep breath? If done the right way, deep breathing is a great stress buster. The way we breathe has a lot of impact on our health. We supply vital oxygen and improve blood circulation with each breath we take. It activates our parasympathetic nervous system, which helps calm us down when we experience stress. It helps reduce muscle tension, lower blood pressure, improve sleep quality, aid digestion, stimulate the lymphatic system to flush out toxins, improve immunity, etc.
People have shown immense awareness about correcting breathing patterns and inhaling correctly by adding pranayama, belly breathing, various breathing exercises, etc., to their lifestyle to improve health.
However, it is pertinent to note that just allotting a precise time for breath work in the day might not be enough. We also need to correct irregular breathing and keep on breathing right throughout the day to get the maximum benefit.
Irregular breathing is one area which is easy to miss. Many people suffer from irregular breathing, which affects their bodies in some ways, and the irony is that they are unaware of their irregular breathing patterns.
Let’s understand various types of irregular breathing to correct breathing patterns.
Irregular breathing, in most straightforward words, means a type of breathing pattern which deprives our body of receiving enough oxygen.
Following are a few types of irregular breathing.
- Screen apnea/ email apnea/ tech apnea:
Breathing is an involuntary function like heart pumping and blood circulation. But we must watch out for our breathing pattern when doing work/activity with concentration.
Screen apnea, also called email apnea or tech apnea, is when people stop breathing enough oxygen without realizing it when they are engrossed in work/using a mobile or laptop, watching TV/movies or even playing video games.
Corrective steps:
– The first step is to notice and observe your breathing pattern whenever you are engrossed in some activity. The first step to correct a problem is to identify the issue.
– Take deep, audible breaths whenever you catch yourself not breathing enough.
– Try larger screens and font sizes. Using a laptop/desktop for messaging is better than using a mobile. It is less taxing on our nervous system.
– “Your break time should be an actual break time for your mind.” People often make the mistake of checking their phones and replying to messages during their break time. In this way, you are taking some time off from work but missing providing relaxation to your nervous system in your break time. Walking in nature or listening to music will help relax your nervous system during your break.
- Fast and shallow breathing:
Physical, emotional, and environmental factors significantly affect our nervous system and breathing patterns. In many situations, we breathe heavy, fast, and shallow. For example, we start panting after climbing the stairs, running, jogging, exercising, etc., which is beneficial for our body.
But breathing heavily in stressful conditions like anger, nervousness, fear, etc., can harm our nervous system, which requires correction.
In stressful situations, our nervous system releases stress-related hormones such as cortisol, norepinephrine, adrenaline, etc. They can seriously damage our bodies when released in large quantities. It can also cause chronic ailments and autoimmune disorders in the long term.
Corrective Steps:
– Observe breathing patterns in stressful situations. Getting stuck in a traffic jam can also be stressful if not handled properly. Observe and understand your stressful situations and try to take deep breaths when in stress.
– Try to focus on exhaling more from the mouth. Exhaling more automatically corrects inhalations.
– Try to divert your mind for 30 seconds. Take deep breaths. Tackle the situation once you are a bit settled.
– Activities like listening to music and taking a stroll in nature help.
- Congestion due to ailment/cough/cold:
Many conditions affect our breathing, such as colds, coughs, congestion, lung ailments (COPD, asthma, ILD, pulmonary/cystic fibrosis), sleep apnea, etc. Few conditions are not fully reversible, but correcting breathing certainly helps.
Corrective steps:
– Observe breathing patterns. Know what hurts the body the most and focus on correcting the same. People are mostly unaware of their disturbed breathing patterns in a few conditions, including sleep apnea. Notice if you wake up feeling sluggish or tired. If you are dosing off frequently during the daytime, the chances are higher that you are not sleeping well at night, possibly due to sleep apnea or disturbed breathing patterns.
– Include breathing exercises in your lifestyle.
We usually search for a challenging solution to our problems, but we often need to remember to look for signs and small details our body shows us. We look for more extensive solutions and usually need to catch up on simple changes that can fix our real problems.
Remember, simple solutions do work!
Start breathing well throughout the day, and see for yourself!