Did you know that about 77 percent of people experience stress that impacts their physical health? Stress can cause heart problems, pain, muscle spasms, headaches, and more. When your stress begins to impact your health, it’s a clear sign that you need new coping techniques. One coping technique that’s often overlooked is breathing. Read on to learn the importance of breathing.

Are you looking to decrease your stress, help your mental health and feel better? Keep reading to learn more about the importance of breathing techniques for your health. 

The Importance of Breathing Exercises

Using different breathing exercises can benefit you physically, emotionally, and mentally. For example, one 2021 study looked at the benefits of diaphragmatic breathing in patients with GERD. 

The results indicated a potential for using diaphragmatic breathing as a treatment method. This treatment method has also been looked at for its emotional and mental benefits. 

Some other benefits include: 

• Lower the effects of cortisol 
• Reduce your heart rate
• Decrease blood pressure
• Increase lung health
• Reduce pain
• Decrease stress
• Relieve anxiety, anger, and frustration
• Feel happier
• Increase energy
• Reduce depressive symptoms

Box Technique

Box breathing is also called square breathing. This technique can help slow down your breathing. In addition, it can decrease stress, calm your nervous system and mind, and improve focus. 

When you’re doing this technique, you should stand, sit, or lie down on your back. If sitting in a chair, make sure your back is supported and your feet are on the floor. Place one hand on your chest and one on your stomach. 

When you breathe, your chest and stomach should rise. If your chest does, but your stomach does not, you are breathing shallowly. 

You’ll start by breathing in and slowly counting to four. Then hold it in for four seconds. After four seconds, slowly exhale through your mouth for four seconds. 

Repeat those steps until you feel centered. 

Diaphragmatic Technique

Diaphragmatic breathing strengthens your diaphragm, improves core stability, slows your breathing rate, reduces heart rate and blood pressure, and promotes relaxation. In addition, many studies are still looking at other conditions this technique can help with. 

It’s recommended that this technique be practiced for five to ten minutes and around three or four times a day. 

To start, lie down on a flat surface. Place a pillow beneath your head and knees to keep your body comfortable. 

You’ll place one hand on your stomach, just under your rib cage but above your diaphragm. The other hand, you want to place it on the middle of your upper chest. 

Start by inhaling slowly through your nose. You want to draw the breath down towards your stomach so that your stomach pushes upwards, but your chest remains still. 

Next, tighten your abdominal muscles and allow your stomach to fall downwards while exhaling through pursed lips. Your chest should remain still through this step. 

Start Practicing Breathing Techniques

The importance of breathing cannot be overstated. There are many types of breathing techniques that can help you physically, mentally, and emotionally. Box and diaphragmatic techniques are excellent places to start. 

Are you looking for more ways to reduce stress and pain? Contact us today to learn how we can help. 

Over fourteen percent of people in the United States have tried meditation. But why do any of them stick with it? Well, you may think that meditation is boring, but there are significant advantages of meditation. Are you ready to learn more? Read on to discover 5 proven benefits of meditation for your mental health. Alleviate anxiety, overcome depression, and boost self-esteem with meditation

1. Help With Your Anxiety

If you have a chronic anxiety issue, meditation is one strategy to help you deal with it. Regularly meditating can help you moderate the stress of your everyday life, which will in turn help you to alleviate your anxiety and find relaxation.

There are other mental health problems that meditation can help with too. Combined with other treatments (like chiropractic treatments), you can help overcome the cycle of depression.

And people who are struggling with low self-esteem can also benefit from trying out meditation and other mindfulness practices. The process of meditation encourages your brain to focus on more positive thoughts. This helps you overcome any negative thoughts that might climb into your brain.

2. Pay More Attention

People who struggle with their attention span, whether or not they have ADHD, can learn to lengthen their attention span through meditation. When you meditate, you’re supposed to let go of other factors in the world that could be distracting you from what you need to get done. 

So, if you’re struggling with your work or with getting everything you need to be done for school, try including practicing mindful meditation into your routine.

3. Help Your Body Feel Better

Meditation isn’t just helpful for your mental health. It can help improve your physical health as well. Because meditation helps you reduce your stress levels, it helps reduce your blood pressure. This will improve your overall cardiovascular health.

And if you struggle with chronic pain, meditation is another strategy to help you regulate how you feel and relieve your problems. Like with many problems, mind over matter really does work.

4. Get Outside Yourself

Meditation also gives you the opportunity to get outside of your head. This will make it easier for you to sympathize with others and to think about the bigger picture when it comes to the world around you. There are actually studies that show that meditation helps create pathways in your brain that makes you more sympathetic to other people.

5. Think Better

Meditation is good for your brain overall. When you regularly meditate and practice mindfulness, you’re working out your brain. This allows your brain to stay strong as you age, ensuring that you’re less prone to memory loss and other age-related brain issues. 

Get Started With the Benefits of Meditation Today 

Clearly, there are a lot of benefits of meditation you might want to get in on. So, you may want to take a class or watch a YouTube video, and see if it might be right for you.

Do you need a chiropractor to help you on your wellness path? Schedule an appointment with Amazing Life today.

Did you know that nearly 8 in 10 Americans feel stressed weekly? While some amount of stress is a part of everyday life, many people feel overwhelmed. And prolonged stress can be dangerous and cause many different kinds of health issues. If you’ve been feeling stressed lately, now is the perfect time to learn more about it. Check out our guide here about the three types of stress including everything you need to know about acute stress, episodic acute stress, and chronic stress.

Then you can take action and put yourself back on the path to wellness! 

What Causes Stress?

First things first: what causes stress? It is your body’s natural reaction to perceived danger–real or imagined. You’re flooded by hormones, and the “fight or flight” response is activated. 

Three Types of Stress

Once the stress response in your body begins, there are a few outcomes. Depending upon how long these periods last and how often they occur, there are different types of stress. Read more about acute stress, episodic acute stress, and chronic stress below. 

1. Acute Stress

Put simply, acute stress is usually a one-off moment of anxiety. It could be caused by a car accident, an incident at work, or a problem with a family member. While you may experience everything from heart palpitations, sweatiness, indigestion, and other symptoms, it will usually pass when the stress abates. 

2. Episodic Acute Stress

Episodic acute stress is similar to acute stress, except that it is recurring. This may be because of repeated work deadlines or other returning stressful events. Depending on their frequency, these can wear you down and result in health issues. 

3. Chronic Stress

If you experience constant stress over a prolonged period of time, this is known as chronic stress. Whether it is from daily traffic, stressful work, bad habits, abuse, or other long-term stressors, it can take its toll on both your physical and mental health. It is important to learn how to cope with chronic stress in order to avoid these repercussions. 

Treatment for Different Types of Stress

For acute stress and episodic acute stress, you can learn stress-relief techniques or use natural herbs like lavender tea, chamomile tea, or catnip tea to help calm you down and decrease your stress levels. Treatment for chronic stress is a more involved process and can be dealt with professionally. If you’ve been feeling low because of your stress, one avenue to try is to get chiropractic manipulative treatment for depression..  

Ready To Get Help for Your Stress?

Now that you’ve learned about the different types of stress, you can be proactive and learn how to treat yours. Whether you suffer from acute stress, episodic acute stress, or chronic stress, it’s important to seek help to manage it. With the assistance of a professional, you can take steps for a more stress-free life. 

Do you want to see what chiropractic services can do for you? Then contact us here at Amazing Life Chiropractic and Wellness, and start your journey to better health today.  Or ask Alexa, Google, Siri … “Call Amazing Life Chiropractic and Wellness.”