Pranayama: 8 Reasons Why We All Need To Learn To Breathe Correctly

Breathing is living – this simple process accompanies everything we do, whether it is sleep, work, exercise, or meditation. In Yoga breathing is called pranayama, which can be roughly translated as the “extension of life” as prana means “life force”. You’ve probably noticed that when you have trouble breathing there are all kinds of issues that come with it – anxiety, stress, trouble sleeping, and indigestion just to name a few. When you take control of your breathing all these things might still happen, but you will learn to counter-act them and improve your overall mental health. Here are 8 reasons why we all need to learn to breathe correctly.

Stress reduction
We live in a noisy, stressful environment, which makes our brain keep us in alert state all the time. This leads to loads of stress that is almost impossible to shake off. Controlled deep breathing is one of the easiest and most potent tools to help our brain and body relax. It’s a built-in mechanism you should use every day!

Detoxification
Breathing and moving is the only way to boost your lymphatic system, which is responsible for cleansing all the waste and toxins in your body. There’s no built-in pump like the one our heart has, but by simply breathing deeply you will help your system to fully cleanse.

Anxiety reduction
Controlled deep breathing directly influences the vagus nerve in our brain, which is responsible for calmness, focus, and low heart rate. The more you stimulate it, the more acetylcholine gets into your nervous system, and the more benefits you reap from breathing properly. Research shows it works better than any anti-depressant!