Mindful breathing can achieve tremendous health benefits, such as reducing stress, increasing alertness and boosting your immune system. For centurie, yogis have used breath control, or pranayama, to promote concentration and improve vitality — Buddha himself advocated breath-meditation as a way to reach enlightenment.
“Breathing is massively practical,” says Belisa Vranich, a psychologist and author of the book Breathe. “It’s meditation for people who can’t meditate.”
Consciously changing the way you breathe appears to send a signal to the brain to adjust the parasympathetic branch of the nervous system, which can slow heart rate and digestion and promote feelings of calm as well as the sympathetic system, which controls the release of stress hormones like cortisol.
Being mindful of your breath simply means observing and opening your awareness to your breath: to your breathing in and your breathing out, without controlling or judging it in any way — but simply letting it be. Seasonal changes have a way of wreaking havoc on our minds, especially since the change in weather tends to bring with it illnesses, allergies, and changes in routines which pile up and up and up, until they tip our stress levels into overdrive. Now that we’re back into motion again and the weather is cooling down, it’s time to mindfully minimise your stress levels in order to achieve a clarity and ease that can carry you through to the next season.
Breathing deep supplies more oxygen to all our body parts, including our digestive system, thus making it work more efficiently. The increased blood flow also encourages intestinal action, which further improves your overall digestion.
Taking just a few moments each day to practice some deep breathing exercises can decrease stress, relax your mind, body and can help you sleep better. Breathing correctly is important for your overall wellbeing, while its benefits are uncountable. For more information on massage deals Auckland, spa packages Auckland and ayurvedic medicine please go to www.spaayurda.co.nz .
