Abdominal Breathing to Reduce Stress and Increase Vitality

Breathing is something that we all take for granted. It has been something we have been doing since the moment we were born and just like our heart beating, doesn't take any effort or conscious energy to control. We never really think about how we breath has allot to do with how well we feel and how it can give you more or less energy. By taking a look into how to properly breath using your abdominal muscles instead of your thoracic muscles; you can control your stress level. By regularly practicing abdominal breathing you can reduce stress dramatically, increase your metabolic efficiency and feel better all the time.

When you regularly breathe from childhood until your adult years you breathe through your nose and mouth into the lungs and expand the thoracic cavity, this puts stress on the upper back, shoulders, chest and constricts the blood vessels going to the brain. It is a major cause of upper back pain and stress on people of all walks of life. When we breathe by expanding the rib cage it gives less oxygen to the brain causing that slightly dizzy or lightheaded sensation. Breathing through the rib cage only causes more muscles to contract, when muscles contract they use up more oxygen. This causes the heart to work harder to pump more fresh oxygen to the brain. It puts stress on the entire body making each organ work harder for its supply of fresh oxygen and blood. By training yourself to breath with your abdomen you are naturally giving yourself a massage each and every time you take a breath in and out, further relaxing your body helping to get rid of stress tension and chronic disease.

Switching to an abdominal breathing technique will take a little practice, after-all most of us have been breathing with our thoracic cage for years and years and we don't know any different way of breathing. It all starts with the concept of wanting to relax more and feel more comfortable all the time.

Start by taking a look inward not taking it to serious and slowly gaining the practice of abdominal breathing for less stress. To begin you can either be sitting or standing, standing is in an athletic stance; shoulders drawn down and back the body but relaxed. Breathe in by expanding your belly pushing it out a little bit but not trying hard. All you're doing is allowing your diaphragm to go up and down by taking the pressure off of it. Expanding and contracting the stomach allows the diaphragm to do its job with less weight on it making it easier on the body. Try practicing a four second inhale and four second exhale. This technique will take stress off of your shoulders and upper back while giving your stomach and inner organs a gentle massage with each breath. Using this technique on a regular basis will reduce stress help get rid of muscles tension, improve digestion and also increase your immune system.