Breathwork is the second most popular type of complementary medicine used in the U.S., according to the National Health Interview Survey. (Natural products takes first place, while yoga/tai chi/qi gong are in third.)
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Over 10% of all adults use some kind of breathing meditation to improve their health. .
With good reason!
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Breathing is automatically regulated by the nervous system.
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But you can also control your breathing intentionally.
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👉 By consciously shifting your breath, you can influence your autonomic nervous system.
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That’s huge! Why? Because the autonomic nervous system also controls your heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, sweating, sexual function, urination, sleep, and stress response.
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Yogis have know this for years.
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🤓Now, research is catching up! There are a growing number of studies showing how breathwork can help with anxiety, insomnia, focus, blood pressure, and more.
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🙌 Wouldn’t it be great if more physicians knew about it?
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Unfortunately, it’s not something routinely taught in medical school.
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Fortunately, it’s something that you can learn. 👉 One of my favorite easy breathing exercises is this: Count your exhales.
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By counting your exhalations, you’ll naturally draw attention to the exhale and prolong it.
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💕A longer exhale helps to draw out the calming response in the body, which most of us need more of. .
You can do this anytime, anywhere.
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I love to do this just before going to sleep to help relax the body and mind.
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I also like to do this periodically during the day to ease out any tension or stress or break any mental looping.
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You could do it sitting, standing, or on the move.
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🌟Small things done consistently can work wonders.
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Do you use any breathing mediations? How have they helped you?
Lots of love,
Dr. Dijamco
P.S. In the next post I’ll share more tips on how to build a consistency, which is key for developing healthy habits.
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