Breathing exercises will help get rid of stress and improve health. We explain the seven best breathing techniques and how to use them in everyday life.
Why do we need breathing exercises?
Actually, we breathe automatically and without thinking about it – because breathing is vital. As a result, the body is supplied with fresh oxygen and carbon dioxide is excreted. The problem: Depending on our mood, the way we breathe changes. When we are stressed, we breathe shallowly and too quickly, which can have negative effects on the body. Through conscious breathing exercises we can improve our health, reduce stress and thus allow more relaxation into our lives.
It has been known for thousands of years that correct breathing can heal with the help of a breathing technique. In India, breathing exercises known as pranayama have always been an important part of yoga. Egyptian epitaphs describe “healing with breath” as better than “knife” or “plant juice”.
Breathing exercises: How to breathe correctly?
At best, we should always breathe in and out slowly and deeply into our stomachs. As a rule, however, we only succeed in doing this when we are asleep and if we actively pay attention to it – only a few people are able to breathe deeply unconsciously. In fact, most people only use a small part of their actual breathing volume, which is actually more than six liters, and breathe shallowly into your chest or shoulders. That’s why breathing exercises are so useful: They let us breathe properly and help us to consciously let our breath flow through the whole body.
Breathing Exercises: Why is Deep Breathing So Important?
Our body needs a lot of oxygen to function properly. If you breathe correctly and use breathing techniques, you can not only reduce stress, but also achieve the following positive effects on your health:
- blood pressure is lowered
- Metabolism is boosted
- Up to 70 percent of the toxins and pollutants are exhaled, which relieves the burden on the intestines, skin and urinary tract
- Immune system is activated
- relaxation arises
- Creativity is encouraged
What are the disadvantages of “bad” breathing?
Conversely, this also means that shallow breathing that is too fast can have a negative impact on our health. Bad breathing can have the following effects:
Who are breathing exercises suitable for?
Actually, everyone who is under stress more often in everyday life should do breathing exercises every day. Especially since you don’t need any tools other than your own body and you can do the exercise practically anywhere and anytime if you have a little rest. But sick people can also benefit from breathing exercises. Daily breathing exercises are particularly useful for the following diseases:
- asthma
- anxiety disorders
- Chronic lung disease COPD (“chronic obstructive pulmonary disease”)
- pulmonary fibrosis
- signs of paralysis
Caution: Even if every breathing technique has the goal of calming and relaxing, you should still listen to your body. For example, if you get dizzy or uncomfortable while breathing with concentration, you should stop the exercise. In the worst case, breathing exercises that are performed incorrectly can trigger cramps or hyperventilation. In this case, an immediate visit to the doctor makes sense.
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The breathing exercise in four phases
Breathing exercises can generally be divided into four phases:
- Breathe in: It is inhaled slowly and deeply, mostly through the nose. The length of the inhalation varies from breathing exercise to breathing exercise.
- breathlessness: The breath is held in the lungs for a moment.
- Exhale: Depending on the exercise, breathe out fluently for a few seconds.
- breathless: Most of the used air is exhaled through the mouth and the body has no more breath.
After the last phase, the first phase of the breathing exercise is started again.
These are the seven best breathing exercises
1. Natural abdominal breathing
This is the recommended classical breathing, which we should ideally always practice, but which most people only succeed if they actively practice it. Tight clothing and the constant pulling in of the stomach prevent us from doing this in everyday life, for example. Therefore, it makes sense to learn the natural abdominal breathing as the first of the breathing exercises. And this is how it works:
- Put your hand on your stomach
- Breathe in deeply through your nose
- Feeling through the hand as the abdomen fills with air and expands, causing the abdominal wall to rise
- Exhale slowly and calmly through your mouth
- Also feel through the hand how the abdominal wall sinks again and the stomach contracts
The exercise can be repeated as often as you like and immediately provides more relaxation.
2. The 4-6-8 method
With the new 4-6-8 method you can not only relax and breathe away stress, it is also recommended if you have problems falling asleep or general sleep disorders, because it is very calming. Actually, the 4-6-8 method as a breathing exercise is “only” an extension of deep abdominal breathing. How this exercise works:
- Lie down and place one hand on your stomach again
- Breathe in through your nose and mentally count to four
- Hold your breath and slowly count to six
- Exhale through your mouth while slowly counting to eight
The breathing exercise is repeated five times.
3. Pricked tongue
The tongue and the diaphragm influence each other – which we can use to lower our stress levels. The associated breathing exercise relies on the contact of tongue and palate, but is very discreet and can therefore also be carried out in public without any problems:
- With the mouth closed, press the tongue against the front of the teeth and the back of the roof of the mouth as if to pronounce an “L”.
- Breathe in and out deeply and consciously through your nose
- Alternatively, exhale and blow through your pursed mouth for a few seconds, as if blowing out a candle with a steady stream of air
The exercise should be repeated several times in a row. After just a few breaths, breathing generally becomes deeper and calmer, and the stress subsides.
4. Inflate your lungs with breathing exercises
Anyone who is constantly under tension, angry or restless, automatically breathes shallower and prevents the lungs from developing their full air potential. This tension can be breathed away with a kind of stop breathing:
- Take a deep breath and mentally count to two
- Hold your breath and count to two again
- Breathe in again and count to two
- Hold your breath again and count to two again
- Repeat until you can no longer breathe
- Exhale all of the air in one long, calm breath
- Breathe normally and calmly for several breaths
The breathing exercise is repeated twice and allows you to gradually make better use of your lung capacity.
5. Exhale in bursts
Likewise for calming and relieving tension The exercise of exhaling air in bursts is suitable. How it works:
- Sit down, put one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach
- Take a deep, relaxed breath and count to five in your mind
- Breathe out through your mouth five times in a row. So squeeze your breath out
The breathing exercise should be repeated five times and ensures that anger and restlessness can leave the body better. It’s easier for us to relax!
6. Diaphragm training
Shallow breathing gradually weakens our “breathing muscle”, the diaphragm – which in the worst case can lead to shortness of breath. This exercise to strengthen the diaphragm works with the so-called pursed lip: The lips remain pressed together when exhaling, in order to let the air escape, only a narrow opening between the lips is used. How diaphragmatic breathing works:
- Sit or lay on the floor
- Bend your legs hip-width apart
- Put one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach
- Take a deep breath while counting to two, tighten your abs and breathe in slowly
- Purse your lips as you exhale and mentally count to four
- At the same time, consciously feel how the stomach relaxes, the chest should hardly move
The whole thing can be repeated four to five times and thus train the breathing muscle.
7. The short office trick
Especially at work, an e-mail or a phone call can be enough to cause anger to boil over and all relaxation to be forgotten. To get down quickly A little breathing exercise that you can do comfortably on your desk chair is enough:
- Sit up straight and press your upper body against the back of the chair
- Take a deep breath and bring your arms up over your sides
- Hold the position and breath for a short moment
- Let your arms drop again and at the same time exhale slowly and calmly
- Remain breathless for a moment until the impulse to inhale returns
Like the other breathing exercises, this one can be repeated several times until one feels the anger has been breathed away.
Info: We have even more new reading tips! Have you read enough about breathing exercises and are now looking for more tips and information on how to relax? Then take a look at our articles autogenic training, body scan and progressive muscle relaxation.