Learning to do proper breathing exercises is a great way to saturate your body with oxygen. Light and improper breathing hampers your body's ability to move fresh oxygen through the blood. This can leave you feeling weak and sluggish and can even lead to respiratory or heart disease. Doing some heavy breathing exercises daily can help combat this and can leave you feeling energized and refreshed, not to mention being a form of stress relief.
Begin With Belly Breathing
Learning do belly breathing is the most basic deep-breathing skill as well as the most effective method of breathing in general. Start by lying on your back on the ground. If this is uncomfortable, consider putting pillows under your neck or knees. Place your hands flat on your stomach, palms down, just below the rib cage with your middle fingers barely touching. Take a slow, deep breath and feel your diaphragm push down, expanding your stomach and slightly separating your fingertips. This will indicate that you're breathing properly. Slowly exhale, feeling all the air escape from your body, and your hands and stomach returning to their initial position. For optimal results, repeat this breathing exercise for 5 minutes.
"Complete Breathing" Exercise
This breathing exercise begins in a sitting position, with your legs in whatever position feels most comfortable. Close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing, relaxing your face and thinking only about the task at hand. Exhale to remove all the air from your lungs. Then inhale, letting your abdominal muscles relax so that your stomach feels like it is filling with air. Continue breathing until your chest and rib cage have expanded as well. Hold your breath for a moment and then slowly release the air from your body, relaxing your chest and rib cage and contracting your stomach to force out any remaining air. For optimal results, continue this breathing motion for 5 minutes.
"Humming" Breathing
This exercise is a variation on "Complete Breathing." Begin by sitting in the same position and preparing your mind and body as done before. Exhale to remove all the air from your lungs. Then inhale, letting your abdominal muscles relax so that your stomach feels like it is filling with air. Continue breathing until your chest and rib cage have expanded as well. Make a "hum" sound as you slowly release the air from your lungs. Continue to "hum" while exhaling for as long as possible, contracting your stomach at the end to push out the remaining air. Relax your abdominal muscles and then repeat for 2 to 3 minutes.
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