Breathe Much?
All of us are constantly breathing but seldom are we consciously thinking about it. Paying attention to your breathing for even a few minutes here and there throughout the day can provide massive health benefits. On average we breathe 22,000 breaths/day. Normal respiratory rates for adults are 12-20 breaths/minute. We invite you to make a few of those breaths just “a little bit better” so you too can experience the rewards.
Try these three things throughout the day to improve your blood pressure, decrease stress on your heart and optimize your athletic performance. The main goal is to breathe SLOW and LESS. Ideally, as much as you can, BREATHE THROUGH YOUR NOSE.
Slow down. Breathing slower and less often improves your biological relaxation reflex. 6 seconds in and 6 seconds out is the magic number to decrease your heart rate and blood pressure.
Belly breathing, or, diaphragmatic breathing, improves your ability to take in oxygen and exhale CO2. We see lots of people with headaches and neck pain from using accessory breathing muscles (the muscles in your upper back/shoulders and neck.) When under stress it is reflexive to use these upper back and neck muscles to breathe. Our ancestors needed that stress “flight or fight reflex” to run away from a predator, but most of us are internalizing our stress instead of using it for physical movement. Next time you are at your desk and your shoulders go up see if you can breathe through your belly and low back instead.
Breathe through your nose. This warms the air coming into your lungs which is especially important in our Alaska winter when the air is either cold outside or lacks humidity inside. Nose breathing puts less stress on your lung tissue and helps the exchange of oxygen into your body.
These breathing techniques are great for everybody but we have been noticing more and more people that have been having issues with shortness of breath and difficulty exercising since having COVID. If this is you or your friends and family give us a call to see if we can help. We have been implementing a post-COVID program to improve lung function with specific breathing techniques and highly supervised cardiovascular exercise tailored for specific individuals and their conditions. We are here to help our community and have recognized that this is a huge need right now.
Breathe well friends!