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Breathing: The Secret to Feeling Good

Hello everyone!

Did you know that there is a simple but effective way to manage your stress more effectively?
It's actually something you do every day – breathing!

BREATHING IS THE SECRET TO FEELING GOOD

When you breathe in, you draw oxygen into your body. This oxygen is then taken in by your
red blood cells, which use it to nourish all the other cells in your body.
About 90% of all the energy your body produces is thanks to oxygen, as compared with just
10% for food and water.
As a result, the first thing you need to do to maintain your inner equilibrium is to be aware of
the importance of breathing.

THE DIAPHRAGM: YOUR BREATHING MUSCLE

When you breathe in, your lungs inflate with air. But how exactly does this work? It’s all
thanks to the diaphragm. This dome-shaped muscle pulls downwards as you breathe in, then
relaxes again when you breathe out. It is a little like pulling on a piece of elastic and then
letting it go so it springs back to shape. As for your stomach, it inflates when you breathe in
(an active movement), then deflates when you breathe out (a passive movement).

CHEST BREATHING OR STOMACH BREATHING?

We breathe automatically. When we are stressed, we stop breathing as deeply from our
stomachs. Our breaths become shallow, rising from our chest only, and our diaphragm might
even get stuck. Sometimes the opposite can happen, and our stomachs tighten on an in-breath
and relax on an out-breath.
The good news is that we can consciously control our breathing. We can positively activate
our nervous system by taking some easy steps to work on our breathing.

LENGTHEN YOUR BREATH TO CALM YOUR MIND

Give it a try! Breathe in deeper… Then breathe out for longer…


When you breathe in deeply, you activate the sympathetic part of the autonomic nervous
system which stimulates your body.
When you breathe out slowly and for as long as you can, you activate your nervous system’s
parasympathetic part, which calms you down.
This is why lengthening your exhalations helps you to quickly calm yourself down.
KEEPING YOUR HEART ON THE RIGHT BEAT

Research has shown that stress reduces our heart’s ability to adapt to what is going on around
us.
To make your heart more adaptable, you can practise cardiac coherence.
Try the following activity: for five minutes, rhythmically breathe in for five seconds, then out
again for another five. This will help to synchronise your heartbeat and breathing, which is the
aim of cardiac coherence. This ancient stress-management technique is both easy to do and
very effective.

Thank you for your attention and see you soon!

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