10 Amazing Science-Based Benefits of Breathing: How to Incorporate Mindful Breathing Now
Breathing is instinctual, we do it even in our sleep, without thought or effort. So if that’s the case, what would be the benefits of learning how to do it all over again? I asked myself this question daily, I was sure I knew how to breathe, I did not need to be taught thank you very much. Could there be any benefits of breathing a certain way?
Despite my hesitancy, I got suggestion after suggestion to just breathe, just breathe, just breathe. It was time to look into it (thank you google scholar) and find if there were any actual benefits to breathing more mindfully.
To my surprise, there were quite a few.
Though we all breathe naturally, very few people take the deep long breaths that have enormous health benefits. When you inhale and exhale slowly, softly, and deeply, you experience physical changes that have huge benefits to your wellbeing!
Benefits of Breathing
Here are 10 science-based benefits of breathing.
1. Improve Health Health
Breathing can increase cardiovascular health by facilitating oxygen flow in our body. This helps to strengthen the heart, stabilize blood pressure, and increase red blood cells. Not only that, but breathing promotes the expansion of blood vessels and increases blood flow.
2. Improve Quality of sleep
Dr. Andrew Weil, sleep expert and founder of the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, states that breathing can be a simple way to help with insomnia.
When we breathe deeply, we can slip into a relaxed state and overcome the day-to-day worries that keep us up at night.
3. Strengthen Immune System
The oxygen in our body is essential in transporting and transforming nutrients into energy. By breathing consciously, the body can better absorb vitamins and nutrients, improving the performance of our immune system greatly.
4. Reduces Stress
When you breathe deeply and consciously, the body can reduce levels of stress hormones. This is extremely important to overall health as stress leads to chronic inflammation and other detrimental conditions.
5. Improve the Nervous System
Breathing deeply relaxes us, moving us out of fight or flight mode and into a tranquil state. In this tranquil state, the heartbeat slows down, muscles relax, and anxiety is lessened.
6. Increase Lung Capacity
Breathing can provide greater strength, elasticity, and health to the lungs. This increases oxygenation of the body and protects against respiratory disease.
7. Increases Body Detoxification
Breathing out itself is a form of body detoxification, removing carbon dioxide and toxins from the body. In fact, around 70% of toxins in the body are removed by breathing out.
It will also help activate the lymphatic system, a part of the circulatory and immune system vital to wellbeing. The lymphatic system is also responsible for removing waste from the cells and parts of our body. It relies on breathing to help it flow, just as our blood relies on the heart to pump it.
8. Improve Mood
Yes, breathing can make you feel better. Conscious breath can increase the production of neurochemicals responsible for elevated moods and joy. It also increases the chemicals needed to control pain and reduce stress.
9. Gain Better Posture
Bad breathing, shallow and fast, has been linked to bad posture, the cause of back pain and muscle soreness. Breathing well can help improve posture, straightening out the back, and allowing you to stand tall.
10. Improve Digestion
Due to the increase in circulation, more oxygen flows to digestive organs, which can help them function more efficiently and improve nutrient absorption.
The Takeaway
There you have it. The top 10 reasons we should all be breathing better. The benefits of breathing are many and it is one of the easiest and simplest ways to improve health and overall wellbeing. Check out here to find a simple way to breathe and make this change. Try out different techniques and find one that suits you. Let’s all take a deep breath, or three, and feel better together.
Remember that health comes from within, so eat well, exercise, and care for your mental health. Let your daily habits become the good building blocks for emotional, mental, and physical health. Take care of your gut microbiome health too! Learn everything you need to know about gut microbiota today for free here.
