"How's your breathing?" and she looked at me with a question mark face and said, "No one's ever asked me about how my breathing is," and laughed.
"So you don't pay attention to your breathing?" I asked.
Janiel, intrigued with the subject of breathing and how it had something to do with her lower backache, asked me, "Why, is it important?"
Our breath is the core of life, and the patterns of our breathing changes depending on what's on our mind and our emotions. For instance, when we're scared or in a panic, or when we're rushed or tensed, our heart starts to pump fast. On the other hand, when we're present to happiness, and we experience joy, love and peace, how's our breath? You can feel that our breathing is smooth, calm and light. For some, they don't even know that their body is reacting to their breath. To them, it's just how their body is.
I asked my friend to observe her breath for a minute. Nothing to do; just breathe.
She said she feltlike her breathing and her heart slowed down. I told her, she could actually be relaxed in the midst of stress, panic or fear just by taking a moment and tuning into her breathing. Then I asked her to breathe really attentively and watch where her breath was going. Since she wasn't really getting it, I told her to put one hand on the top of her chest and the other hand on her belly to see where her breathing was rising from. Right away, with an astonished look on her face, she said, "It's my belly."
There's no wrong way to breathe. At the same time, breathing from the stomach completely shows why her back aches during the day. When we breathe all from the stomach, the stomach muscle cavity is left loose and the back is left unprotected. That results to higher risks to injuries and lower back aches.
It goes the same for breathing from the chest. People who breathe from the chest are overusing the muscles that assist in breathing, but are not solely for this purpose. It's what we refer to as shallow breathing, and it's inefficient to providing blood flow for the body. It also creates muscle tention in the neck and shoulder areas even before the stress.
Breathing is something I train with everyday as a main proponent of Pilates Exercise Mat. I encourage a diaphragmic breathing technique, that is, breathing from the sides and the back of the ribcage where the muscles can be fully utilized. This expands the lower lodes of the lungs for the blood lymph flow, which allows for efficient gas exchange.
How does proper breathing contribute to lessening neck, shoulder, back aches and stress?
Breathing awareness in Pilates Exercise Mat relaxes our mind, and has us experience its physical and spiritual benefits. No wonder in Pilates, the breath is the first basic principle, and it always dictates our movements. As we go through our day, our breath functions with the mind-body consciously and subconsciously and this reveals a great deal of our physical and mental state.
So, in sum...
Reaping the benefits of proper breathing:
* Mind-body connection
* Relief from back aches
* Relief from neck and shoulder aches
* Relaxation
Why is breathing properly critical in your daily life?
* Releases effective oxygen in the cells all throughout the body
* Provides a quick energy boost while moving through our day
* Activates the deepest stomach muscles that provides back strength stability
* Enlivens the body as it makes you aware of your body
Breathing is essential to your happiness, peace of mind and having a pain-free life. As you can see based on what I've explained above, saying this is no exaggeration at all.
Are you presently suffering body pain and feeling stressed out?
Would you like to get immediate help?
Or do you have questions that you'd like addressed?
Simply join me in Facebook and I will promptly answer your questions and concerns so that you can have relief within minutes. As you can see, proper breathing will reduce your body pain, enabling you to have the physical and over-all capacity to live your life day by day, which is the mission of Pilates Exercise Mat.
Photo thanks to: http:// www. corbisimages. com/stock-photo/royalty-free/42-24647471/young-woman-standing-in-desert
