Breathe.

That’s right - breathe. But not just any breathing. Breathe from way down deep.

Andrew Duffy, who’s been gracious enough to let us guest post at the amazing Fitness For All blog, has blogged before about breathing deeply, and today, we want to provide a number of other reasons that breathing is one of the best things that you can do for your health.

A value on the importance of breath isn’t all we share with Andrew. As yoga instructors who specialize in helping people of a variety of body types, our attitude towards fitness is that it’s for all people - regardless of shape and size - and that fitness is about increasing healthiness, well-being and functionality, not a vain search to attain the unnecessary physical attributes valued by “pop” culture.

That’s one reason that we focus on the idea of Breath. Your Breath is so important. The word itself is so simple yet so powerful, and understanding just how much of an effect Breath can have on our health is what we want to talk about today.

A Few Fun Breathing Facts Many People Don’t Know

1. Breathing As An Aerobic Workout!?!  A regular breathing practice can give you many of the same benefits as an aerobic workout.  A vigorous workout will trigger your body to take deeper, fuller breaths, clearing stale air out of your lungs and supplying your body with lots of oxygen. Few could deny the benefits of an aerobic workout, especially one that doesn’t provide the same strain on joints and muscles that might not be in the proper shape for more rigorous exercise.

2. Eliminate Waste From Your Body  More waste is excreted from your lungs than any other organ in your body - including your kidneys or liver.  Most of us take shallow, irregular breaths, expanding our ribcages only.  The lungs are made up of lots of tiny balloons, called alveoli.  There is a lot of stagnant air in these alveoli when we breathe shallowly.  Doing a breathing practice consisting of taking deeper, fuller, more regular breaths expanding the belly as well as the ribcage just twice a day will clear the old air out of your lungs as well as supply your body with more oxygen.

3. De-Stress  Learning to breathe differently can combat the negative effects of stress such as high blood pressure, heart arrhythmia, poor digestion and sleep disorders.  Doing a consistent breathing practice of just five minutes twice a day over a period of time will change your breathing pattern throughout the day because your body will automatically take deeper, fuller breaths even when you aren’t thinking about your breathing.

Five Reasons to do Breathing Practices:

1. They’re FREE!
2. Anyone can do them . . . as long as s/he can breathe!
3. They require no expensive equipment: just your nose and mouth.
4. They’re portable and can be done anywhere, anytime.
5. You can do them, and no one will ever know.

Have you ever tried different breathing techniques before? What did you do and how did you find them?

We’re so delighted to be here blogging with you, and we look forward to posting in the future. For now, start using your breath to Center Yourself and see how that affects you.

When you get a chance, check out the experts’ great tips this week.

Ellen Sichel: From being diagnosed with lupus and suffering from TMJ and other stress-related problems, Ellen discovered "strong arming" her way through life was not working any longer. After exploring different styles of yoga, Ellen found Svaroopa Yoga® and embraced its "less is more" approach. As CSTY, RYT 500, Former Executive Director of Master Yoga Foundation, Ellen is a Certified Svaroopa® Yoga instructor, Embodyment® Yoga therapist, Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapist, Vichara Practitioner and Meditation Teacher.

Karen Bolt: Karen has 20 years experience as an intensive care and emergency room nurse and has owned a successful GNC franchise. She began a journey of self-discovery through yoga, meditation and Reiki, falling in love with Svaroopa® yoga after the first class she attended. She felt immediate relief from the chronic low back pain that she had suffered from her entire life. Already a Reiki master and an Embodyment® Yoga therapist, Karen is currently working towards her final certification as RYT.

Learn more about Sichel-Bolt Enterprises and discuss custom programs for healthy living.