Breathing - Here are some tricks

Breathing! Its instinctive. But let me teach you different techniques of breathing that you can use for your benefit. 

Shortness of breath can occur with sudden onset. Possible triggers include exertion or stress. 

If it is exertion, sit down, put your head down, and breathe in with your mouth and out your nose. Your exhalation should be longer than your inhalation. 

Slow down your breathing. Contrary to common perception, breathing slowly helps you catch your breath.

If it is stress, breathe as slowly as you can. The slower the better. Breathing slow reduces your heart beat, which reduces stress. 

If you are exercising, inhale during the muscle-lengthening phase of the exercise. Inhale as you lower down into a squat. Exhale as you stand up from a squat. 

Don't hold your breath when exercising. Doing so, can cause hypoxia. Hypoxia occurs when your oxygen levels fall and carbon dioxide rises. Holding your breath can also increase your blood pressure. 

Let us strengthen the diaphragm. Your diaphragm is the muscles that regulates the ballon above to fill up with air when you breathe in. Sit in a chair. Breathe in slow through your nose. Breathe out through your mouth with pursed lips. 

Now half turn your body in one direction and repeat breathing. As you do, come back to your original position. Now repeat by turning in the other direction. The exercise will strengthen your muscles. 

If you can, rinse your nasal passage using an exercise called Jal Neti. If you can't use a saline spray. You can also use a warm cloth below your eyes to decongest. I have spoken often about humming, which clears the sinus cavities. 

As you can tell, breathing is more than an instinctive reflex. In fact, Indians call breath Prana or life. 

Reach out to me on twitter @rbawri Instagram @riteshbawriofficial and YouTube at www.youtube.com/breatheagain