Breathing is obviously important. Our bodies and brains need oxygen to survive. We can’t live more than 5 or 6 minutes without oxygen. However, most of us do not breathe deeply enough during the day. This can lead to stress and tension in the body, headaches, fatigue, anxiety, obesity and more.
Corporate Yoga classes teach you how to breathe effectively while doing yoga, but that’s typically only 1-2 hours of your week. If we can learn to breathe effectively all the time, we’ll have more energy, feel less tired and be happier and healthier.
Sitting is now being called the new smoking, so if you sit most of the day at your workplace, it’s important to get up and move your body, but it’s also essential to learn how to breathe properly and more effectively.
Here are some tips to get you started…
(1) Be mindful of your breath. Every so often, check in with yourself. Are you sitting and working away, but barely breathing? When you catch yourself not really breathing, immediately take a few deep belly breaths.
(2) When we aren’t breathing effectively, our bodies start to become tense. Be aware of any areas in your body where you are holding tension: Are your shoulders up around your ears? Are you clenching your jaw? Stretch, shake it out, get up and move around, or better yet, start doing Corporate Yoga at work or Private Yoga sessions at home. You’ll have more energy and you’ll feel better.
(3) Learn these breathing techniques. #1 – To calm or center yourself – Sit in your chair with your feet flat on the floor, legs at 90 degrees, back straight, shoulders relaxed. Close your eyes and place both hands on your belly. As you inhale, imagine your belly is filling up like a balloon, and as you exhale, completely relax. Repeat 3-5 times before opening your eyes and returning to work. #2 – To energize yourself – Stand up. As you inhale, circle your arms out to the sides and up overhead. Fill your lungs as deeply as you can. As you exhale, open your mouth, release your breath and let your arms come back down. Repeat 3-5 times. #3 – To relieve shoulder tension – As you inhale, raise your shoulders to your ears. Inhale as deeply as you can and really squeeze your shoulders up there. As you exhale, open your mouth, drop your shoulders and release your breath with a sighing sound. Repeat 3-5 times. Do this whenever your shoulders become tense.
While it’s important to regularly do yoga either on your own, at a studio, participating in a Corporate Yoga or Private Yoga class, breathing properly is something you can learn today and something you can all day long on your own.
What other breathing techniques do you use regularly?