Breathing is such a staple in my life because of its underrated benefits in a chaotic world.

When my father was diagnosed with lung disease I became obsessed with learning more about how our lungs can improve and what the benefits of breathing daily really involved.

I had a morning routine that involved deep breathing using an alternate nostril technique that I love. Thats when I sought our various styles of breathing routines and the more I found, the more the foundation was set on just taking slow deep breaths and exhaling over a period of time

Why  Is it So Important

Breathing is underestimated because it is an act we do everyday of our lives unconsciously. Sometimes it is taken for granted because once you experience the benefits of a good session, you will fall in love with how it makes you feel.

Diaphragmatic breathing, also known as deep breathing, is such a powerful practice that involves breathing deep into your diaphragm rather than how we usually breath just into our chest. This is really important because of the problems of shallow breathing.

When we get stressed, nervous or anxious our breath tends to get shallow and faster. That can heighten your anxiety and make you more tense. The “fight or flight” response in humans is activated and your body responds to distress and increases its heart rate, blood pressure and even tenseness in muscles.

Deep slow breathing can create a calm and relaxing response to your body acting in this “fight or flight” stage. The body and mind can now get into a relaxed state instead of intensifying anxiety or making blood pressure worse. I witnessed this with my father’s lung disease.

He had many bouts with moments of feeling he couldn’t breathe. His pulse oximeter would show his levels drop fast and he would panic. His body would respond with danger on his mind and his anxiety would create panic. Being his caregiver, I would sit there with him and get him to slowly breathe deep and relax his mind and his body would follow.

My father was such a believer in these techniques and said he was grateful to me for getting him out of that scary state. All I did was be calm and remind him to breathe. That’s when I knew the importance of breathing can be lifesaving.

Deep breathing also allowed him to maximize his lung capacity. He only had 17% of his lungs functioning since he had COPD and Pulmonary Fibrosis so we had to make sure we got the most of his working lungs.

Go and try out the 4-7-8 breathing routine and keep your momentum moving forward. Each day we can do something for our mental health and be proud of you taking a positive step for yourself. Don’t doubt yourself, enjoy your energy.