What is the proper breathing method to bring about better health?

For humans, breathing is an indispensable exercise to live "to breathe oxygen and to vomit carbon dioxide", it is also an exercise that greatly affects physical and mental health. Deep breathing may relieve stress, and mental anxiety and excessive tension may cause hyperventilation . For such breathing, Scientific Amrican summarizes what kind of breathing method would have a positive effect on the body and mind.

Proper Breathing Brings Better Health - Scientific American
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/proper-breathing-brings-better-health/

In Taoism in China and Hinduism in India, breathing was regarded as one of the things supporting life energy called "qi" or " prana ". In addition, the ancient Greek word " pneuma " and the Latin word " Spiritus " include the meaning of "breathing" besides "spirit", as well as the idea of linking mind and breathing in the West also existed from ancient times .

Is a psychiatrist of Germany in the 1920s Johannes Heinrich Schultz was invented " autonomous training method self-hypnosis method called" is, have adopted a deep breath as the basis of its approach, well in also in Europe and the United States today in a relaxed purpose It seems to be used. Breathing is also a common technique in modern times as an approach to calming the body and mind, such as mindfulness which is a popular meditation (law) law in recent years also being done based on breathing.

As a breathing method to promote relaxation, Scientific Amrican introduces "heart coherence". Cardiac coherence is a breathing method using a physiological mechanism of "slowly taking a deep breath, the vagus nervous is excited and the activity of the parasympathetic nerve becomes dominant", while initially adjusting the breathing according to the heart rate By gradually calming breathing slowly, this time I stabilize my heart rate from breathing and stabilize it.

The technique of controlling respiration and using it for health is backed up by tradition and experience, but in modern times research results that recognize the effect are also announced. However, Scientific Amrican notes that such scientific verification is often incomplete in such studies, and further research is still needed. Also, Scientific Amrican warns that "If you concentrate too much on your physiological functions such as muscle tension and breathing, you may also cause panic attacks by some people," he says.

Finally, Scientific Amrican shows six tips on respiration that can relieve sporadic stress by doing on a daily basis for about 5 to 10 minutes, as shown below.

◆ 1: Standing straight up <br> Standing upright and straight without stiffening or standing back, allowing respiratory muscles between the diaphragm and ribs to move freely, breathe properly using the whole body It seems to be able to do.

◆ 2: Turning Consciousness to Breathing Movement - It means not mindfully concentrating on breath itself but merely being aware of the action of "breathing in" and "breathing out" . Scientific Amrican recommends that you turn your consciousness towards the sensation that the air passes through your nose and throat and the movement of your chest and abdomen.

◆ 3: Consciousness of abdominal breathing <br> It is said that abdominal breathing which breathes by inflating the abdomen and moving the diaphragm is preferable to chest type respiration which inflates the breast greatly. If you do not know whether abdominal breathing is done or not, you can grab feeling by putting one hand on the abdomen and lying down and breathing.

◆ 4: Breathing rhythmically <br> <br> When you finish breathing or exhale, stop breathing and count 3 seconds in your head. By holding a 3 second pause between expiration and inspiration, breathing slowly calms down.

◆ 5: Nose breathing is done <br> Close one nostril with your fingers and slowly breathe through the other nostril. If you breathe several times, I will change the nostrils. According to Scientific Amrican, research suggests that nasal respiration has a greater health impact than mouth breathing.

◆ 6: Conscious of breathing to relax <br> I think to consciously relax that "I am relaxing and breathing" every time I breathe. Also, Scientific Amrican says that it is important to have an image that "everything is breathing out with all my fears and troubles" every time I breathe out.