What does relaxation mean to you? Sitting in front of the TV? Or chilling out with your friends? Have you ever thought how breathing can help you reduce stress? Breathing exercises, if done in the right way can help you reduce stress. Breathing helps release body enhance its response system, which helps in reducing the stress.
There are a number of techniques that one can practice and make them a part of their everyday cycle. Some of them are deep breathing, meditation, rhythmic exercises, and yoga. If you include them in your daily schedule, you will soon start noticing the benefits that it provides.
Deep breathing :
Deep breathing seems to be very simple in nature. But it is a very powerful technique. You do not need any special place to practice, just the correct posture and technique and you are done.First of all, you have to sit comfortably with your back straight. Keep one hand on your chest and the other one on your stomach. Start breathing with the help of your nose, you will see that the hand on your stomach starts rising. The other hand will have very less movement.
Now exhale through your mouth.You have to continue this practice of inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth.
If you cannot perform this exercise while sitting, you can always lie down and do it.
Rhythmic techniques :
The way one performs meditation with full involvement, in a similar manner, rhythmic techniques can also be performed. These include walking, swimming, climbing. When you are performing these techniques, make sure that your focus on your body parts, instead of getting involved in your own thoughts. Focus on each step that you take and with each step, focus on the rhythm. This will make your nervous system very strong and will also help in activating your response system.
Morning breathing :
If you are someone who gets muscle stiffness every morning, then this one is for you. After getting up in the morning Stand straight and bend forward from your waist and let loose your arms on the floor. You can touch the floor slightly. Now start inhaling slowly and return to your standing position. Stay in that position for some time and hold your breath. After that, exhale and return to your actual position.
Bellows breath :
In this technique, you have to inhale and exhale with the help of your nose. The only condition is that you will have to keep your mouth closed. Make sure that the duration of your breaths is not long. Try to keep it as short as possible, but the rhythm has to be same. If you are exhaling for ten seconds, you have to inhale also for ten seconds.
If you want better results, in one second, try this technique for three times. Your diaphragm will start moving quickly and you will feel it moving. This is called as bellows breathing. If you are a beginner, do not do this for more than 15 seconds. Go slow and each time you can increase the duration as per your convenience till your reach one minute. If you do this properly, you will start feeling light from day one itself.