• HOME
  • WORK WITH ME
    • NEW PATIENTS START HERE
    • BOOK AN APPOINTMENT
    • VIRTUAL HEALTHCARE
    • CONTACT
  • CONDITIONS TREATED
    • IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME
    • SMALL INTESTINAL BACTERIAL OVERGROWTH (SIBO)
    • YEAST OVERGROWTH (CANDIDA)
    • DEPRESSION
  • ABOUT
    • ABOUT ME
    • SERVICES & TREATMENTS
    • NATUROPATHIC MEDICINE
    • MY PHILOSOPHY & APPROACH
  • FREE RESOURCES
    • JOIN GUT LOVERS SOCIETY [FREE ONLINE DIGESTIVE HEALTH SUPPORT GROUP]
    • BLOG
    • E-BOOKS
    • CHECK OUT MY UPCOMING BOOK!
    • YOUR FREE MONTHLY DOSE [NEWSLETTER]
    • PAST NEWSLETTERS >
      • February 2023
    • VIDEOS

BLOG

The Importance of Breathing Deeply

9/24/2017

 
Person breathing in fresh lavender bouquet
It might sound weird, but in today’s world, we often forget to breathe. Not just the type of breathing that we do automatically (which keeps us alive), but the deep, belly breaths that fill our lungs completely.

Many common habits lead to shallow breathing, which can lead to feelings of stress and anxiety. Using smartphones, computers, chronic “busy-ness,” having a sedentary lifestyle--all of that results in us not using our lungs to their full potential. Most of the time, we don’t even notice we’re breathing shallowly. The next time you spend more than a couple minutes looking at a smartphone, try to tune in to your breathing. Do you get really still, taking shallow, quiet breaths? If so, it's due to a mixture of concentration and subconscious efforts to stabilize the tiny screen. The amount of time per day that we all use these devices adds up to hours of breathing shallowly, which can make us feel more anxious and less grounded.

Breathing deeply has measurable positive impacts on our physiology. When we fully inhale and fully exhale, it increases something called heart rate variability. Heart rate variability is essentially a measure of how responsive your heart is to physiological changes, and the more responsive the heart is to those changes, the healthier it is. A person’s heart rate naturally increases with inhalation, and naturally decreases with exhalation. The more often we take big, deep breaths, the better our hearts get at changing rates and reacting appropriately to our environment. If our hearts are responsive to these small changes, that means the heart can adapt to the larger physiologic changes that happen during exercise and stressful situations, which is very important for long-term cardiovascular health.

Another way that deep breathing can positively impact our physiology is to activate something called the parasympathetic nervous system. This part of our nervous system is responsible for the functions of “resting and digesting,” and helps us feel relaxed, helps us properly extract nutrients from the food we eat, and generally helps us feel calm.

Next time you feel stressed or anxious, take a minute to tune into your breathing. Are you breathing shallowly? If so, try taking a few deep breaths and see if it helps you feel a little better.

Give it a try:
  1. Find a quiet, comfortable place to sit for 5 minutes
  2. Close your eyes
  3. Inhale slowly through your nose, counting to four on the inhale
  4. Hold your breath for 1-2 seconds at the top of the inhale
  5. Exhale slowly through your mouth, counting to four on the exhale
  6. Repeat 10-20 times
  7. Observe how you feel - hopefully you feel more relaxed than when you started!

If you struggle with anxiety or stress, schedule an appointment today to learn about more natural therapies that can help you feel better.

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    January 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    April 2017

    Categories

    All
    Book Club
    Cold & Flu
    Community
    Digestion
    Events
    Food Allergies And Sensitivities
    Free Medicine
    Heart Disease
    How-To Guides
    How To Thrive In A Toxic World
    Kid-Friendly Medicine
    Mental Health
    Mindfulness
    Naturopathic Medicine
    Nutrition
    Pain
    Prescription Medications
    Prevention
    Recipes
    SIBO
    Women's Health

    RSS Feed

Copyright © 2022. dr. erica volk, nd.

  • HOME
  • WORK WITH ME
    • NEW PATIENTS START HERE
    • BOOK AN APPOINTMENT
    • VIRTUAL HEALTHCARE
    • CONTACT
  • CONDITIONS TREATED
    • IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME
    • SMALL INTESTINAL BACTERIAL OVERGROWTH (SIBO)
    • YEAST OVERGROWTH (CANDIDA)
    • DEPRESSION
  • ABOUT
    • ABOUT ME
    • SERVICES & TREATMENTS
    • NATUROPATHIC MEDICINE
    • MY PHILOSOPHY & APPROACH
  • FREE RESOURCES
    • JOIN GUT LOVERS SOCIETY [FREE ONLINE DIGESTIVE HEALTH SUPPORT GROUP]
    • BLOG
    • E-BOOKS
    • CHECK OUT MY UPCOMING BOOK!
    • YOUR FREE MONTHLY DOSE [NEWSLETTER]
    • PAST NEWSLETTERS >
      • February 2023
    • VIDEOS