Stress is a part of everyone’s life and also there are many ways to combat it– exercise, a long hot bath, yoga, music and even a massage. But believe it or not, something you’re doing right now, probably without ever giving it a thought, is proven to be a great stress reliever: Breathing.
Deep breathing apart from being relaxing also, helps affect the heart, brain activity, digestive and immune system and also genetic expression, which has been proven scientifically. Mladen Golubic, a physician in the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Integrative Medicine states the deep connection between our breath and physiological health. Asthma, COPD, cardiac arrest are influenced by breath and there are studies which show that people who practice breath control and exercises are much more benefitted than the ones who don’t, and often succumb to clinical conditions mentioned above. An article by Gretchen Cuda in npr.org just tells you that.
Some research also shows that breathing exercises can have immediate effect by altering the pH level of blood and also regulates blood pressure. But most importantly breath can train the body to handle stressful situations, anxiety control and even panic disorders.
