Breathing became shallow. Frequent shallow breathing. Shallow breathing in a child. From the point of view of yoga, deep breathing is useful because

Kaufman Yu.M.

How to breathe correctly:
deeply, with participation chest or superficially, using the diaphragm (“stomach”)?

Nowadays, many people believe that human health and life expectancy depend mainly on the consistency of human nutrition and movement. At the same time, both the population and medical workers The importance of breathing is often forgotten. It is known that without food, water and movement, a healthy person can live for quite a long time. And no person can tolerate the absence of breathing for more than 9 minutes.
Human life is determined by three factors: breathing, nutrition, movement. These three factors mutually determine each other's volume.
Everyone knows that inhaled air oxygen provides oxidative processes, without which life is impossible. It is also known that carbon dioxide (carbon dioxide - CO2), as a product of the final oxidation of carbon, is released by the lungs from the blood and eliminated from the body through the respiratory tract, as waste as a result of metabolism - “garbage”.
However, the body only gets rid of excess carbon dioxide. After all, CO2 in an aquatic environment, combining with water, forms carbonic acid: CO2 + H2O = H2CO3. At the same time, mainly carbonic acid provides the necessary for chemical reactions in the body, the acid-base balance in the blood and interstitial fluid, necessary for the functioning of the body’s enzymes at normal body temperature.
With excessive ventilation, CO2 is released, which is necessary to ensure normal acidity of the blood and interstitial fluid, metabolism in the body is disrupted, and a disease occurs - “hyperventilation syndrome”. At the same time, due to spasms of the arteries and metabolic disorders, most organs become ill (angina pectoris, disorders cerebral circulation, peptic ulcer stomach and many other diseases).
When hyperventilation syndrome occurs, a person often loses consciousness and may even die. Therefore it is not surprising that if ambulance, delivers an unconscious patient with hyperventilation syndrome to the clinic; a plastic bag is placed on his head to stop the excessive release of CO2. When the patient regains consciousness, he is forced to breathe shallowly. Hyperventilation can only be stopped by reducing the volume of ventilation. A healthy, trained person can compensate for excess CO2 emissions by increasing physical work to produce additional CO2, without reducing ventilation.

How to breathe correctly?
1. First of all, you need to breathe through your nose. The nose is adapted for this:
a) the walls of the nose warm the inhaled air (this is important in winter),
b) the hairs of the nose partially filter the air, protecting the lungs from pollution.
c) the nasal mucosa moisturizes very dry air,
d) when breathing through the nose they are ventilated paranasal sinuses nose,
e) the nasal mucosa, when breathing is too active, can swell and secrete viscous mucus into the lumen of the bronchi, narrowing the lumen of the bronchi, partially protecting the body from hyperventilation, etc.
You can exhale through both your nose and mouth.
Snoring during sleep is a sign of improper breathing—breathing through the mouth. Several deep breaths are periodically followed by holding your breath for 30-60, and sometimes more, seconds. The brain of such a person receives insufficient oxygen at night and does not rest well. This is apnea. In these cases, you need the help of a pulmonologist who, if necessary, can prescribe the use of a special apparatus for breathing during sleep.
If a person cannot breathe through his nose, he should consult an otolaryngologist. If you have a deviated nasal septum, you have to undergo surgery.
Often, normal nasal breathing is interfered with by “nasal congestion.” Usually this phenomenon is temporary. When switching to economical, calm diaphragmatic breathing, it gradually goes away. Nasal congestion is relieved very quickly using a reflex method. For this you need index fingers With both hands, pressing firmly, massage the following reflex zones for 5 seconds:
a) “dog pits” on both sides of the nose,
b) the lateral walls of the nose, approximately in the middle of the length of the nose,
c) points in the middle of both eyebrows,
d) points in front of the “tragus” of both ears,
e) points on the bottom of the “large mounds” behind both ears,
e) the most prominent bone cervical spine spine (spinous process of the 7th cervical vertebra).

In extreme situations, you have to gasp for air. For health, this should not last long (not chronically).
2. Normal frequency breathing at rest -7-8 per minute. 2-3 seconds – inhale, 4 seconds – pause, 2-3 seconds – exhale.
3. At rest, both day and night, you need to breathe only superficially - diaphragmatic breathing, without the participation of the chest, using the diaphragm (thoracic-abdominal septum) - “stomach”.
4. Restoring proper shallow breathing helps to recover not only from hyperventilation, but also from many diseases that make up the “Hyperventilation Syndrome”.
5. A healthy person should be able to hold their breath after exhaling for 60-90 seconds. If a person cannot hold his breath like this, then he is sick with deep breathing disease or other diseases. Therefore, such a patient should be examined and treated.
6. Of course, when walking, running, significant physical work, etc., a person must deepen his breathing, because Muscle energy production requires oxygen. An additional amount of carbon oxidation product – CO2 – will appear in the lymph and blood. As CO2 accumulates in the blood, the acidity of the blood will increase. The body will be forced to increase CO2 emissions. A person will feel this need as a lack of air and oxygen. This lack of air will be felt by a person automatically, without self-awareness assessing the state of the body. The person will automatically deepen and quicken their breathing.
You must always remember that breathing is dosed in strict accordance with the volume and degree of stress of physical work, taking into account the state of health (primarily the heart, blood vessels and lungs).

Breath dosing outside the clinic in accordance with health status and degree
physical activity:
A. At rest, a healthy or practically healthy person should breathe only through the nose. Breathing should be shallow, due to the work of the diaphragm muscles. All other muscles of the body should be relaxed. The chest, at the same time, must be motionless. If you feel short of air, deepen your breathing a little using the diaphragm (“stomach”), without opening your mouth or engaging your chest.
A sick person at rest cannot always breathe so strictly shallowly, but he should try to breathe through the nose without the participation of the chest, selecting the depth of diaphragmatic breathing at the lowest possible level, avoiding forced inhalation through the mouth. At severe violations breathing, the patient, even at rest, is forced to breathe through his mouth. Such patients are subject to additional examination and treatment.
B. While walking, running, or physical work, a healthy or practically healthy person should also breathe through the nose (you can exhale through the nose or mouth). During non-intensive work, one should strive to maintain diaphragmatic breathing, selecting such a deepening of breathing so that it is as small as possible, but without allowing the need to inhale through the mouth.
When working very intensively and for a long time, mouth breathing is justified. Here, hyperventilation threatens only with a sudden cessation of heavy loads and at the same time continuing deep breathing. Therefore, at the finish line, an exhausted runner should not be allowed to lie down and not move. He needs to be helped (supported) to walk until the shortness of breath decreases, otherwise he will develop hyperventilation syndrome and may even die. When physical stress stops or significantly decreases, you need to use your willpower to try to reduce the ventilation of the lungs and rather switch to nasal breathing, initially deep, gradually switching to shallow breathing.
For example, you are sick or old man, go up the stairs. After some time of such difficult work for you, you felt a lack of air, you had a desire to breathe air through your mouth. Do not give in to the temptation to switch to mouth breathing, stop immediately, rest, and restore calm, shallow, diaphragmatic breathing. Then continue the climb, but at a slower pace.

Dosing the DEGREE OF PHYSICAL STRESS using nasal breathing.
The common method of determining the degree of physical stress by heart rate is very inconvenient, especially during work and physical exercise in the fresh air.
The author's many years of experience have proven that the onset of shortness of breath is a very accurate criterion for reducing or stopping physical activity, especially for sick people. For example, a patient engaged in therapeutic walking or exercise therapy breathes through his nose. The need to breathe through your mouth due to lack of air (shortness of breath) is an accurate diagnostic signal for reducing or stopping physical activity. This means that if you walk or work (do physical exercise, etc.), and at the same time hold your nasal breathing freely, then you can confidently continue working at this pace, without fear of the possibility of physical overexertion, of course, if there are no heart pains or other signs of illness. The duration of work (walking, etc.) should be dosed additionally.
Breathing rate.
Respiratory frequency can also be used to dose breathing, but this is rarely used in practice.

Respiratory methods for the treatment of breathing disorders.

1. VLGD method – Volitional elimination of deep breathing. This method was created for the prevention and treatment of hyperventilation syndrome. Essentially, this method can help treat about a hundred diseases that arise due to prolonged spasms smooth muscles of the bronchi, walls of blood vessels, walls of many internal organs, as well as metabolic disorders in chronic pulmonary hyperventilation. The author of the method is K.P. Buteyko.
The VLHD method has proven to be especially effective for diseases associated with bronchial spasms (bronchial asthma and similar diseases) and spasms of the heart vessels (angina at rest, etc.). This method is taught by a specialist during group or individual lessons, 10-14 lessons daily or every other day. Shallow diaphragmatic breathing is trained.
2. Strelnikova’s “paradoxical breathing” method. This method breathing exercises used mainly for bronchospastic diseases. The paradox of Strelnikova’s breathing exercises lies in the fact that a deep breath is taken while moving the arms, squeezing the chest. The patient takes a series of deep active breaths, at the height of which he squeezes the chest with his hands. That. the patient forces himself to switch to diaphragmatic breathing.
3. Inhaling oxygen is very effective method treatment. Oxygen therapy is especially important for patients with pulmonary heart failure with severe shortness of breath. When treating or rehabilitating at home, such a patient must be provided with a relatively inexpensive device for taking oxygen from the air and supplying it to the respiratory tract. The electrical power of these devices is supplied from a regular power supply, so for visits to consultants and examinations, you have to have an additional portable device with an oxygen cylinder. With continuous use of a portable device, up to half a liter of liquid oxygen per hour is consumed.
. It must be remembered that oxygen therapy is carried out not only to compensate for respiratory failure, but also as a causal therapeutic agent to improve the nutrition of affected tissues.
4. Hyperbaric oxygenation - breathing oxygen in chambers with increased atmospheric pressure. This method is used for training and treatment in special cases.
5. Training in deep, complete breathing (with the participation of the chest) in order to increase the respiratory surface, attracting parts of the lungs to active breathing, which in a healthy state almost do not participate in breathing. This need arises in case of pneumonia and other severe lung lesions.
6.Training proper breathing during therapeutic exercises(exercise therapy) and during therapeutic dosed walking (LDH). 7. During the rehabilitation period after any serious illness or injury, regular walks in parks and forests that are not polluted by exhaust or industrial gases are necessary. In these cases, proper breathing is mandatory.

When organizing nutrition for patients with breathing problems, you need to pay attention to providing the body with foods containing iron, because main element blood hemoglobin - iron. You also need to remember about the microelements necessary to increase immunity and for proper metabolism in the patient’s body.

Summarizing everything described above, it should be noted that in different situations different breathing should be used, adequate physical activity and the patient's condition. Most of the time, a person should breathe through the nose and shallowly, due to the work of the diaphragm.
Therefore, the main problem usually arises is to teach a healthy or sick person proper shallow nasal breathing. It’s like when eating: it’s difficult for a person to get used to eating moderately after the habit of eating a lot. The problem of switching to shallow diaphragmatic breathing is best solved by the training method proposed by Dr. Buteyko.

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  • Incorrect breathing frequency: breathing is either excessively rapid (in this case it becomes superficial, that is, it has very short inhalations and exhalations) or, on the contrary, it is very slow (and it often becomes very deep).
  • Irregular breathing: the time intervals between inhalations and exhalations are different, sometimes breathing may stop for a few seconds/minutes and then reappear.
  • Lack of consciousness: is not directly related to respiratory failure, but most forms of respiratory failure occur when the patient is in an extremely serious condition and is unconscious.

Forms

There are the following forms of breathing disorders associated with damage to various areas of the brain (the person, as a rule, is in an unconscious state):

  • Cheyne-Stokes breathing - breathing consists of peculiar cycles. Against the background of a short-term lack of breathing, signs of shallow breathing very slowly begin to appear, then the amplitude of respiratory movements increases, they become deeper, reach a peak, and then gradually fade to complete absence breathing. Periods of no breathing between such cycles can range from 20 seconds to 2-3 minutes. Most often, this form of breathing disorder is associated with bilateral damage to the cerebral hemispheres or a general metabolic disorder in the body;
  • apneustic breathing - breathing is characterized by a spasm of the respiratory muscles during a full inhalation. The respiratory rate may be normal or slightly decreased. Having inhaled completely, a person convulsively holds his breath for 2-3 seconds and then slowly exhales. It is a sign of damage to the brain stem (the area of ​​the brain in which vital centers are located, including respiratory center);
  • ataxic breathing (Biota breathing) - characterized by disordered respiratory movements. Deep breaths are randomly replaced by shallow ones, there are irregular pauses with a lack of breathing. It is also a sign of damage to the brain stem, or rather its back part;
  • neurogenic (central) hyperventilation - very deep and frequent breathing with an increased frequency (25-60 respiratory movements per minute). It is a sign of damage to the midbrain (the area of ​​the brain located between the brain stem and its hemispheres);
  • Kussmaul breathing is a rare and deep, noisy breathing. Most often it is a sign of metabolic disorders throughout the body, that is, it is not associated with damage to a specific area of ​​the brain.

Diagnostics

  • Analysis of complaints and medical history:
    • how long ago did signs of breathing problems appear (impaired rhythm and depth of breathing);
    • what event preceded the development of these disorders (head injury, drug or alcohol poisoning);
    • How quickly breathing problems appeared after loss of consciousness.
  • Neurological examination.
    • Assessing the frequency and depth of breathing.
    • Assessing the level of consciousness.
    • Search for signs of brain damage (decreased muscle tone, strabismus, pathological reflexes (absent in a healthy person and appearing only when the brain or spinal cord is damaged)).
    • Assessment of the condition of the pupils and their reaction to light:
      • wide pupils that do not respond to light are characteristic of damage to the midbrain (the area of ​​the brain located between the brain stem and its hemispheres);
      • narrow (pinpoint) pupils that react poorly to light are characteristic of damage to the brain stem (the area of ​​the brain in which vital centers, including the respiratory center, are located).
  • Blood test: assessment of the level of protein breakdown products (urea, creatinine), blood oxygen saturation.
  • Acid-base state of the blood: assessment of the presence of blood acidification.
  • Toxicological analysis: detection of toxic substances in the blood (drugs, medications, salts of heavy metals).
  • CT ( CT scan) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) of the head: they allow you to study the structure of the brain layer by layer and identify any pathological changes(tumors, hemorrhages).
  • Consultation is also possible.

Treatment of breathing problems

  • Treatment of the disease causing breathing problems is required.
    • Detoxification (anti-poisoning) in case of poisoning:
      • drugs that neutralize toxins (antidotes);
      • vitamins (groups B, C);
      • infusion therapy (infusion of solutions intravenously);
      • hemodialysis (artificial kidney) for uremia (accumulation of protein breakdown products (urea, creatinine) with);
      • antibiotics and antiviral drugs with infectious meningitis (inflammation of the membranes of the brain).
  • Combating cerebral edema (develops in most severe brain diseases):
    • diuretics;
    • hormonal drugs (steroid hormones).
  • Drugs that improve brain nutrition (neurotrophics, metabolism).
  • Timely transfer to artificial ventilation.

Complications and consequences

  • Breathing in itself does not cause any serious complications.
  • Oxygen starvation due to irregular breathing (if the breathing rhythm is disrupted, the body does not receive the proper level of oxygen, that is, breathing becomes “unproductive”).

Image from lori.ru

Serious breathing problems can be caused by: external factors, so serious illnesses, which require serious treatment. Usually this:

  • Lung diseases (influenza bronchopneumonia, tumors of the trachea and bronchi, the presence foreign body in the respiratory tract).
  • Allergic diseases (mediastinal emphysema).
  • Brain diseases, both primary (traumatic brain injury, cerebral vasospasm, thromboembolism) and complications ( tuberculous meningitis, circulatory disorders).
  • Poisoning of various natures.

Below are the most common breathing disorders

Noisy breathing

A breathing disorder in which breathing sounds can be heard from a distance. This breathing disorder occurs due to a decrease in airway patency caused by diseases, external factors, disturbances in the rhythm and depth of breathing.

Noisy breathing occurs in the following cases:

  • lesions of the upper respiratory tract, which include the trachea and larynx - stenotic breathing or inspiratory shortness of breath appears;
  • the formation of a tumor or inflammation in the upper respiratory tract causes stridor breathing, which is characterized by whistling and can be paroxysmal in nature. For example, seizures are caused by a tumor in the trachea;
  • bronchial asthma causes obstruction of the bronchi, which also results in wheezing, while exhalation is difficult - the so-called expiratory shortness of breath, which is a specific sign of asthma.

Apnea

Apnea is the cessation of breathing. This breathing disorder is usually caused by hyperventilation of the lungs during very deep breathing, which causes the level of carbon dioxide in the blood to decrease, disturbing the permissible balance of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the blood. Airways narrow, the movement of air through them is difficult. In particularly severe cases, the following is observed:

  • a sharp decline blood pressure to a critical point;
  • loss of consciousness preceded by convulsions;
  • fibrillation leading to cardiac arrest.

Disturbances in the rhythm and depth of breathing

Such breathing disorders are characterized by the occurrence of pauses in the breathing process. Rhythm and depth disturbances can be caused by a number of reasons:

  • under-oxidized metabolic products (waste, toxins, etc.) accumulate in the blood and affect breathing;
  • oxygen starvation and carbon dioxide poisoning. These phenomena are caused by disturbances in pulmonary ventilation, blood circulation, severe intoxication caused by poisoning, or a number of diseases;
  • swelling of the cells of the nervous structures of the brain stem, which is caused by traumatic brain injury, damage (compression, bruise) in the brain stem;
  • viral encephalomyelitis causes severe damage to the respiratory center;
  • cerebral hemorrhages, cerebral vascular spasms, strokes and other cerebrovascular accidents.

Breath Biota

Biot's respiration is mainly caused by lesions of the central nervous system, as a result of which the excitability of the respiratory center decreases. Such lesions are caused by shocks, stress, cerebrovascular accidents, and poisoning. Just as in the breathing disorders described above, Biot's breath can be caused by encephalomyelitis of viral origin. There have been cases of this form of breathing occurring in tuberculous meningitis.

Biot's breathing is characterized by alternating long pauses in breathing and normal, uniform breathing movements without disturbing the rhythm.

Cheyne-Stokes breathing

A periodic form of breathing, in which the respiratory movements gradually deepen and become more frequent to a maximum, and then, at the same pace, switch from rapid and deep breathing to a rarer and shallower one, with a pause occurring at the end of the “wave.” After a pause, the cycle repeats.

This type of breathing is mainly caused by an excess of carbon dioxide in the blood, as a result of which the respiratory center reduces its work. In children younger age This breathing disorder is quite common and goes away with age. In adults it can be caused by:

  • disorders of cerebral circulation (vasospasms, strokes, hemorrhages);
  • intoxications caused by various diseases, or external reasons(alcohol, nicotine and drug poisoning, chemical poisoning, overdose medicines and so on.);
  • diabetic coma;
  • uremic coma that occurs with absolute renal failure;
  • heart failure;
  • cerebral atherosclerosis;
  • traumatic brain injuries;
  • hydrocephalus (dropsy);
  • exacerbation bronchial asthma, causing an attack of suffocation (status asthmaticus).

Kussmaul's Breath

A pathological form of breathing in which respiratory movements are rare and rhythmic (deep inhalation - intense exhalation). It mainly manifests itself in patients with impaired consciousness caused by comatose states of various kinds. Intoxication, diseases, causing change acid-base balance body, dehydration.

Tachypnea

Type of shortness of breath. Respiratory movements in this type of breathing disorder are superficial, their rhythm is not disturbed. Shallow breathing causes insufficient ventilation of the lungs and can last for several days. Mainly found in healthy people with strong nervous excitement or heavy physical work and goes into a normal rhythm when the factors are eliminated. It can also be a consequence of certain diseases.

Depending on the nature of the disorder, it makes sense to contact:

  • see an allergist if you suspect asthma;
  • see a toxicologist in case of intoxication;
  • see a neurologist if you experience shock or stress;
  • see an infectious disease specialist if you have had an infectious disease.
  • traumatologist;
  • endocrinologist;
  • oncologist;
  • somnologist.

In case of particularly severe breathing problems (choking, respiratory arrest), call an ambulance.


If you are asked the question: how should you breathe correctly? – you will almost certainly answer – deeply. And you will be completely wrong, says Konstantin Pavlovich Buteyko.

Exactly deep breathing is the cause of a large number of diseases and early mortality among people. The healer proved this with the assistance of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

What kind of breathing can be called deep? It turns out that the most common breathing is when we can see the movement of the chest or abdomen.

"Can't be! - you exclaim. “Do all people on Earth breathe incorrectly?” As proof, Konstantin Pavlovich suggests conducting the following experiment: take thirty deep breaths in thirty seconds - and you will feel weakness, sudden drowsiness, and slight dizziness.

It turns out that the destructive effect of deep breathing was discovered back in 1871 by the Dutch scientist De Costa, the disease was called “hyperventilation syndrome.”

In 1909, physiologist D. Henderson, conducting experiments on animals, proved that deep breathing is fatal to all organisms. The cause of death of the experimental animals was a deficiency of carbon dioxide, in which excess oxygen becomes toxic.

K. P. Buteyko believes that by mastering his technique, it is possible to defeat 150 of the most common diseases of the nervous system, lungs, blood vessels, gastrointestinal tract, metabolism, which he believes is directly caused by deep breathing.

“We have established a general law: the deeper the breathing, the more seriously ill a person is and the faster death occurs. The shallower the breathing, the more healthy, resilient and durable a person is. In this case, carbon dioxide is important. She does everything. The more of it in the body, the healthier the person.”

The evidence for this theory is the following facts:

During the intrauterine development of a child, his blood contains 3–4 times less oxygen than after birth;

The cells of the brain, heart, and kidneys need an average of 7% carbon dioxide and 2% oxygen, while the air contains 230 times less carbon dioxide and 10 times more oxygen;

When newborn babies were placed in an oxygen chamber, they began to go blind;

Experiments carried out on rats showed that if they were placed in an oxygen chamber, they would go blind from fiber sclerosis;

Mice placed in an oxygen chamber die after 10–12 days;

The large number of long-livers in the mountains is explained by the lower percentage of oxygen in the air; thanks to the thin air, the climate in the mountains is considered healing.

Taking into account the above, K.P. Buteyko believes that deep breathing is especially harmful for newborns, therefore traditional tight swaddling of children is the key to their health. Perhaps the sharp decrease in immunity and the sharp increase in the incidence of illness in young children are due to the fact that modern medicine recommends immediately providing the child with maximum freedom of movement, which means providing destructive deep breathing.

Deep and frequent breathing leads to a decrease in the amount of carbon dioxide in the lungs, and therefore in the body, which causes alkalization of the internal environment. As a result, metabolism is disrupted, which leads to many diseases:

Allergic reactions;

I have a cold;

Salt deposits;

Development of tumors;

Nervous diseases (epilepsy, insomnia, migraines, sharp decline mental and physical disability, memory impairment);

Vein expansion;

Obesity, metabolic disorders;

Sexual disorders;

Complications during childbirth;

Inflammatory processes;

Viral diseases.

Symptoms of deep breathing according to K. P. Buteyko are “dizziness, weakness, headache, tinnitus, nervous tremors, fainting. This shows that deep breathing is a terrible poison.” At his lectures, the healer demonstrated how attacks of certain diseases can be caused and eliminated through breathing. The main provisions of the theory of K. P. Buteyko are as follows:

1. The human body protects itself from deep breathing. The first defensive reaction is spasms of smooth muscles (bronchi, blood vessels, intestines, urinary tract), they manifest themselves in asthmatic attacks, hypertension, constipation. As a result of the treatment of asthma, for example, the bronchi dilate and the level of carbon dioxide in the blood decreases, which leads to shock, collapse, and death. The next protective reaction is sclerosis of blood vessels and bronchi, that is, thickening of the walls of blood vessels to avoid loss of carbon dioxide. Cholesterol, covering the membranes of cells, blood vessels, and nerves, protects the body from the loss of carbon dioxide during deep breathing. Sputum secreted from the mucous membranes is also a protective reaction to the loss of carbon dioxide.

2. The body is able to build proteins from simple elements by adding its own carbon dioxide and absorbing it. In this case, a person has an aversion to proteins and natural vegetarianism appears.

3. Spasms and sclerosis of blood vessels and bronchi lead to less oxygen entering the body. This means that with deep breathing there is oxygen starvation and a lack of carbon dioxide.

4. It is the increased content of carbon dioxide in the blood that makes it possible to cure most of the most common diseases. And this can be achieved through proper shallow breathing.

Deep breathing inextricably linked with peace and well-being. To do this, it must be practiced regularly.

Deep breathing is a technique that involves a person getting used to inhaling air deeply, trapping oxygen inside. After this, you need to slowly exhale the air. This practice is often used in yoga and mindfulness practices.

It should be noted that in addition to these practices, which are inextricably linked with Buddhism and meditation, Everyday life this technique is rarely used.

Unfortunately, few of us think about how correctly we breathe.

You might be interested in reading the results of a study conducted by scientists at Stanford University. His goal was to find out what benefits deep breathing brings to human health. As a result, experts came to interesting conclusions.

Biochemist Mark Krasnov, under whose leadership the research was carried out this work, States that this technique activates a specific group of neurons, which promote relaxation, make us more attentive, and also restore emotional balance, calming.

So, this technique is quite simple and accessible to each of us. It is recommended for any person to practice deep breathing regularly.

All you have to do is open your mouth and take a deep breath. This should be done without haste, with short pauses.

You may already be practicing this healthy habit. In this case, all we can do is congratulate you! In our article today we will tell you about What exactly are the health benefits of deep breathing?

1. Relieves stress and nervous tension

The breathing process is carried out by a person unconsciously. We inhale oxygen to energize the cells of our body.

After this, we exhale carbon dioxide, a product formed as a result of cellular respiration.

This amazing process can bring great benefits to our health. To do this, breathing should be rhythmic and deep, with pauses.

  • Unfortunately, each of us knows that we do not always breathe correctly. For example, when we get scared or feel panicked, our breathing becomes short and rapid. We stop taking deep breaths, which causes our heart rate to increase.
  • Deep breathing can regulate the functioning of the parasympathetic nervous system, causing us to relax: our heart slows down its rhythm, and our inner world is filled with harmony.

In addition, deep breathing relieves muscle tension. Oxygen enters our body gradually but continuously, and our muscles relax. At this point, the sympathetic nervous system stops stimulating the production of cortisol and adrenaline. As a result, our body and our emotions enter a state of harmony.

2. Stimulates the elimination of toxins

Fun fact: human body created in such a way that it is able to remove most of it through breathing.

  • Carbon dioxide is a natural waste product that is formed as a result of metabolic processes in the human body. To function properly, our body must regularly cleanse itself of this substance.
  • Unfortunately, breathing quickly prevents our lungs from properly ridding ourselves of carbon dioxide.

That is why it is so important to understand the importance of deep breathing practice and devote at least 10 minutes to it 3 times a day.


We often unconsciously hold our breath when something hurts.

This natural mechanism is triggered by the brain in those moments when we receive a painful blow, shock or injury.

If you suffer from chronic pain due to arthritis, lupus, or fibromyalgia, deep breathing will bring you relief.

Try holding your breath for a few seconds, then take deep, successive breaths.

This stimulates the production of endorphins - natural analgesics that our own body produces.

4. Improves posture

If you start following this simple, healthy habit now, your life will improve. This is especially true for the position of the back and neck.

Filling my lungs with air, we stimulate the spine to take the most harmonious, natural and correct position.

5. Stimulates the lymphatic system


Lymphatic system It is an integral part immune system our body. It consists of a large number lymphatic vessels, tissues, organs and nodes that perform a number of important functions.

For example, lymph fluid removes dead cells and other waste from our body.

Deep breathing normalizes lymph flow, stimulating the cleansing of toxins from the body. As a result, the functioning of the organs and systems of our body improves.

6. Takes care of our heart

You might be interested to know that during exercise, our body uses fats as energy sources, and during strength training, glucose.

The practice of deep breathing is also considered a good aerobic exercise.

Thanks to her, your health of cardio-vascular system It will become stronger, and it will be easier for the body to burn fat.

7. Improves digestion


Deep breathing also has a beneficial effect on our digestion. Can you guess how this happens?

  • Everything is very simple. When our body regularly gets a large number of oxygen, organs digestive system also get more of this substance. As a result, their work improves.
  • In addition, this habit increases blood flow and stimulates intestinal motility.
  • We should not forget that deep breathing normalizes the functioning of the nervous system, as a result of which we feel calmer. This also has a positive effect on our digestion.

As a result, our intestines begin to absorb better nutrients, entering it along with food!

So now you understand the benefits of deep breathing. Try to start practicing this simple technique today and you will notice how your well-being begins to improve.

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