The best way to calm down is so innate to our lives, we often take it for granted: Taking a breath. Focusing on your own breathing can have a significant impact on your
well-being and stress levels, and can even create physiological changes
like lowering your blood pressure. But for many of us, when it comes to
improving our health, changing our breathing somehow doesn’t spring to
mind as readily as changing our diet or exercise habits.
"We take our breath for granted the way we take our heart beat for
granted," Carla Ardito, a breathing expert at Manhattan's Integral Yoga
Institute and creator of the Breathing Lessons app, told The Huffington Post. "The difference is we can work on our breathing."
And there’s plenty of precedent. For thousands of years, the yogic practice of pranayama
(Sanskrit for "extension of the life-force") has been used as a method
geared towards reducing stress and healing the body and mind through
targeted breathing exercises.
Check out the infographic below for seven health benefits of focusing on your breathing.
Infographic by Jan Diehm for the Huffington Post.
Infographic by Jan Diehm for the Huffington Post.
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/09/breathing-health_n_3696302.html
