What Is the Proper Way to Breathe?

Benefits

Proper breathing habits can go a long way towards improving a person's quality of health. The process of delivering adequate amounts of oxygen throughout the body requires air exchange to take place in a full and complete cycle. A fully oxygenated system allows as much as 70 percent of waste by-products to be eliminated through the skin. In addition, heavily oxygenated blood creates a type of sterile environment within the body, making it difficult for bacteria and viruses to grow.

Healthy air exchange for the body begins with proper breathing habits. When inhaling, air travels down into the lungs, from which oxygen is transferred to bloodstream. The bloodstream then delivers needed oxygen supplies to the tissues and cells of the body. Full deep breaths work to assist this delivery system by allowing the body to take in what it needs in a coordinated rhythm. In the case of short, truncated breathing patterns, less oxygen is made available to the body with each breath.

Hectic lifestyles and continual stressors eventually take a toll on the health of the body, as well as on how it functions. One effect of stress is the tightening up of the muscles in the body. This tightness affects how air is inhaled and exhaled, as the muscles of the abdomen, diaphragm and chest move less freely. These are the same areas at work within the body's air exchange system. As a result, many people breathe from the chest or throat areas, meaning the lungs don't fill completely when inhaling.

The proper way to breathe begins in the abdomen, as a deep full breath will cause the abdominal area to extend. As this takes place, the diaphragm--a muscle that sits between the chest and abdominal regions--sinks down to allow for a full breath of air to fill the lungs. Upon exhaling, the diaphragm lifts upwards to push against the chest cavity and so assists the lungs with discharging air. When done properly, a person may take as few as four to 10 breath cycles per minute.

Improper breathing habits can easily become the body's accepted method of air exchange when tight muscles are present. However, the short-term and long-term effects of this practice only work to add to the tightness already present. If the oxygen supply within the bloodstream is deficient, tissue and cell structures don't receive the needed supplies to carry out cell metabolism functions. When this happens, toxins can build up within the body's system, causing cells to work that much harder at eliminating wastes and processing needed nutrient supplies.