Breathing Exercise for Relaxation

Today people are moving at such a fast pace that knowingly, or unknowingly, the quality of life is being compromised. We welcome stress and tension in the race of achieving more and more. There is a mad rush going on among people, in which everyone is participating and which is undoubtedly happening at the cost of something that is precious, our physical and mental fitness. Therefore, it becomes of prime importance, to look out for ways to minimize worries and relieve stress.

Deep breathing exercises play a major role in minimizing your tensions, and thus enabling you to get peace of mind. Deep breathing is important for both health and spiritual development. Deep breathing gives us strength and promotes relaxation. The process requires a proper technique; otherwise, it will not be effective enough. Deep breathing allows the body to relax and gets everything into synchrony. It is one of the best ways to lower stress in the body. When you breathe deeply, it sends a message to your brain to calm down and relax. The brain then sends this message to your body. Things that happen during stress, such as increased heart rate, fast breathing, and high blood pressure; all decrease as you breathe deeply to relax.

Breathing exercises are easy to learn and do not need any special tools or equipment to do them. Some breathing exercises for relaxation are given below.

Morning Breathing: This exercise is done standing and helps in relieving muscle stiffness. It also clears clogged breathing passages. Bend forward from the waist and bend your knees slightly. Let your arms hang on the side. Then while inhaling roll-up your body slowly, bring your head up the last. Hold your breath for sometime. Come back to the original position slowly, exhaling on your way down.

Rhythmic Breathing: It can refresh the most exhausted body and can calm the most frayed nerves. It can be performed by sitting cross-legged on the ground. Hold your chest, neck and head straight and take a deep breath like in complete breathing while counting to six, hold the breath and count till three; & then exhale counting to 6.

Alternate Breathing: It helps in stabilizing the mind and also cures headaches. Sit cross-legged to perform this exercise and place your right thumb on your right nostril. Inhale from the left nostril and count to four, close the nostril with your middle finger and hold breath to count of eight. Exhale through the right nostril to a count of eight. Keep the fingers in the same position, inhale from right nostril counting to four, hold the breath to a count of 8 and exhale from left nostril to a count of 8.

Breathing exercises are wonderful tool for relaxation. Take out just 15 minutes from your daily schedule to practice these exercises and experience the change.