Conscious Breathing

For many people, the breath is something much more than just the purely physical movement of air. It is often described as the energy, life force, cosmic essence, the vital principle that permeates reality on all levels including inanimate objects. Different cultures refer to...

• Nasal breathing slows the incoming airflow, which has a calming effect on the nervous system.
• The air is traveling slower and stays longer in the alveoli, where gas exchange happens. This gives oxygen more time to diffuse in the bloodstream, which can result in 10-20 per cent greater...

• It’s more relaxing and it makes the process of gas exchange more efficient. 
• The oxidative stress caused by mental or physical exhaustion can be mitigated by diaphragmatic breathing. 
• Diaphragmatic breathing helps to move the lymph (the fluid that flows through the lymphatic ...

• Respiration influences many of the processes in our body that have a direct impact on our physical and mental health. 
• Each day, we take around 20,000 breaths.
• With every inhalation, our heart rate speeds up, and with every exhalation, it slows down. 
• The nervous syst...

Since your body is governed by rhythms – your nervous system picks up the steady flow of air as a cue for safety and adjusts other bodily processes accordingly – you can use this to your advantage.

One way is via a common practice in yoga, in which we breathe in and out to ...