It’s no secret that your breath provides you with many health benefits. Alternative health therapies once shunned by medicine are now backed by scientific evidence that your breath, when used correctly, can improve your wellbeing.
Breath practice (or pranayama in yoga terms) is well known for extending life and your bank of prana. Science and your mind align the breath allowing access to your inner self. Your breath instills calmness, peace and attentiveness as oxygen flows through your body giving energy to the brain. This connection is simple allowing the complex function to join your mind and body creating space for increased energy. The breath allows your subconscious to bring awareness so you can remove any barriers preventing relaxation, calmness and peace.
Through your breath practise your mind may wander and random thoughts may enter, this is perfectly natural. Simply acknowledge those thoughts, don’t fight them, then let them float away like white fluffy clouds across the sky. Your mind will then be clear to focus on a steady rhythm of inhale and exhale connecting thought, emotion and physiological wellbeing allowing your copiousness to flow without judgement.
Have you noticed that when your mind is out of balance it impacts on your mood and thought patterns. Your breath can help bring these back into balance through a regular breath practice.
When you breathe well – fully and deeply from your diaphragm – it releases the feel good hormones called endorphins. Your body and muscles relax as more oxygen reaches your brain thereby reducing negative emotions and improving your mood.
Good breathing techniques also allow oxygen to stimulate your brain; improving your thinking power and ability to focus. When you are deeply involved in activities requiring concentration it uses up a lot of physical energy. This is why you may find yourself emotionally drained after a long day at work. Your brain health is improved through the new connections it develops from a balanced level of non adrenaline enhancing your attention, focus and concentration.