Good breathing brings alot of benefits, find which and learn good techniques

Good breathing brings many benefits, but not all of us know exactly how to breath adequately. Fortunately, deficient or incorrect breathing habits can be modified with the use of adequate techniques which we're about to review. So... Hold your breath!!! But just a while.

Benefits

If you have trouble breathing because of a sinus problem like me, or you perform any sport like I do (I love diving!), you can change your breathing story like I have. Here I show some benefits:

A correct breathing process may:

1) Purify your blood.

2) Raise your energy levels.

3) Allows transport of essential nutrients to the vital tissues of the organism.

4) It helps the muscles and organs to produce energy.

5) You may perform an efficient exercise.

6) It produces smoother movements.

7) It clears your mind.

8) You gain muscular control.

What's the importance of a rhythmic breathing?

Everytime you make an inspiration, you introduce oxygen that goes straight to your lungs and blood circulates through all the body taking this "life giver" molecule to every corner.

During expiration, all the carbon dioxide is taken off your lungs as well as other substances.

If you contain breathing during physical effort, the carbon dioxide stays in your lungs, it accumulates in your tissues, may weaken your muscles and raises the internal blood pressure making you tense. From all this you can intuit the importance of a rhytmic good breathing.

Some good breathing techniques

Smooth breathing.

Evaluate yourself first:

+ Do you breath deeply enough?

+ Do you breath only with the upper part of your thorax?

If you answered one or both as a "yes", you're not taking enough oxygen to your lungs. Breath deeply to fill your lungs completely and to assure that you're having enough oxygen to produce energy and to purify your body.

Abdominal breathing.

Many people have been taught to breathe with the abdomen, which goes up and down during the breathing process, assuring a good amount of air and the correct expulsion of it, also allowing the abdominal muscles to remain contracted, but if you perform Pilates this is not a recommended breathing technique.

Good breathing when performing Pilates: the thoracic breathing.

In order to strengthen your abdominal muscles you must contract them and press them enter. If you use the costal breathing or thoracic breathing, your abdomen remains contracted and you do not interfere with the complete filling of the lungs.

To produce a thoracic breathing you must breath to the back and lateral parts of the thorax. Here's how to do it step by step.

1) Kneel on the floor. Keep your feet together and let your heels fall to the sides naturally. Sit on them so that you have the buttocks resting on your heels. Another alternative is to sit upright in a chair.

2) Keep your shoulders relaxed and let your elbows be a little apart from the side of your body.

3) Make a slow and deep inspiration feeling how the back and lateral part of your thoracic box makes your navel go inward.

4) When you make the expiration, feel how the back and lateral part of the thorax is contracting.

5) Repeat 8 to 10 times and then relax.

TIP: If you're not comfortable or you start feeling dizzy during the thoracic breathing, stop right away and breath normally.

Besides good breathing, If you want to know more about the Pilates Method, check the following link.

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