Breathing Techniques for Relaxation

You can live without water for a few days, without food for a few weeks, but without an air supply, you're toast within minutes. Once upon a time people didn't worry so much about air, but the growth of oxygen bars, increased sales of ionic and electronic air cleaners, and the new popularity of public smoking bans has made it clear that this is no longer the case. People are demanding good indoor air quality. Studies have proven that in many cases, the air we breathe indoors contains more impurities than the air outside.

Oxygen makes up 21 percent of the air we breathe, and it's the key ingredient needed to burn the fuel our food provides. It also removes waste products form your body in the form of carbon dioxide. So not only is a good air supply is crucial, but changing the way you breathe is one of the easiest and most effective ways to change your mood and calm yourself. The best part of it is, you can do it anywhere, indoors or out, whenever you feel the need, and no special equipment is needed.

Breathing is your body's way of getting oxygen to all its cells, so that the fuel they need can be properly utilized. Oxygen latches onto hemoglobin in the blood as it passes through the lungs, and is distributed to the brain, muscles, and all other tissues that need it. The out-breath releases the waste product of cells -- carbon dioxide -- into the air.

The "sigh-breath"

You can take advantage of this process to relax yourself. One way to do this, ironically, is by using the tranquilizing effects of carbon dioxide. Take a breath through your nose, and then let it out slowly, making the out-breath longer than your in-breath. Focus on breathing deeply from your diaphragm, and relax your muscles (especially your chest and stomach) and finish the process by transferring your attention to the outside world, in an attempt to see and hear things more clearly. This "sigh-breath" is an especially useful technique for periods of high stress, and can be resorted to as often as necessary.

"Easy breathing"

One method of quick relaxation is through the method of "easy breathing." Easy breathing is effective for short-circuiting the physical effects of stress, and merely requires you to pay more attention to the physical act of breathing, and your associated physical state. Easy breathing asks you to pay more attention to the natural process of breathing in, pausing, and breathing out. Do nothing but this for several minutes. Easy breathing can allow you to clear your mind, defuse stressful events, and take your mind off irritating and annoying delays.

Some breathing tips

The suggestions above barely scratch the surface of your breathing/relaxation options. When using any of these methods, don't overdo the length of your in-breaths, and try not to hold your breath. The rule with breathing is to prolong your out-breaths when you need to relax; prolonged in-breaths will stimulate you, which is great for exercising but which you don't need when you're overstressed. On the other hand, too much carbon dioxide will sedate you and make you feel lethargic, so don't overdo it.

One of the reasons these methods help with relaxation is that they provide you with something to do while you're stressing out, rather than letting you get even more stressed. However, their real value lies in the regulation of oxygen in your system. So get yourself a new HEPA filter for your air cleaner, breathe deeply and relax yourself into a healthy state of mind.

Published with permission (FCDMInc)