Five Breathing Exercises for Balancing Your Life, Your Mood and Your Relationships

Did you know that how you breathe reveals how you’re living your life? The ebb and flow of life consists of taking in and giving out or controlling and letting go. Isn’t that what breathing is like too?

How would you describe your quality of life? Smooth, balanced and rhythmic? Or is it a wild up and down rollercoaster ride? Perhaps you fall somewhere in between? Science has proven that there’s a definite link between tension or relaxation and the rate and depth of your breathing.

Do you carry an excessive amount of tension without even realizing it? Do you commonly have cold hands and feet even when you’re in a room-temperature environment? Do you have clammy hands because of an adrenaline release? Are you stiff in the morning and do you have excess wrinkles on your face because you’re always tense? Do you chronically feel tired? Have headaches, stomachaches and backaches? Do you always strive for perfection? Are you accident-prone? All of these are indicators that your body is too stressed.

Your body is not designed to always be uptight, to be out of balance. This excess tension will, in time, break down your health and spirit. Consciously using breathing techniques can break this pattern of stress. When you feel foggy and tired, use the following breathing exercises to clear your head, until you feel energetic yet calm.

Breathing Exercise 1

• Stand up. Relax your knees.
• Place your hands on your upper thighs.
• Bend from the crease between your legs and torso.
• Inhale deeply through your nose.
• Exhale forcefully through your mouth while pulling your navel back toward your spine.
• Push all the air out of your lungs.
• Repeat.

Breathing Exercise 2

• Stand up with your arms above your head.
• Rhythmically jump up and down like you’re jumping rope.
• As you jump up, inhale quickly.
• As you land, expel your breath with a “huh.”
• Start with a half-minute session.
• Gradually increase the duration for each session until you achieve five minutes.
• Stop and return to breathing normally.

Breathing Exercise 3

• Stand up.
• Inhale through your mouth as you raise your arms above your head, stretching for the ceiling.
• Go up on your tiptoes.
• Reach even higher, inhaling all the way.
• Release.
• Go limp, bend from the waist and let your head and arms dangle at your side as you exhale vigorously.
• Stop and return to normal breathing.

Breathing Exercise 4

• Take three long deep breaths.
• Keep your focus by saying, “breathe in slowly, deeply”.
• Exhale thoroughly.
• Keep your focus by saying, “Breathe out fully, smile, feel peace”.
• Repeat.

Breathing Exercise 5

Do the yoga alternate nostril breathing exercise.

• Exhale completely, using both nostrils.
• Press your finger against your right nostril, closing it completely.
• Inhale slowly and smoothly through the left nostril only.
• Hold that inhaled breath for a few comfortable seconds.
• Then close the left nostril and exhale through the right nostril.
• Hold while comfortable.
• Inhale through the right nostril only.
• Release your left nostril and close off the right.
• Exhale through the left nostril. Hold.
• Keep switching between left and right nostrils as you inhale and exhale rhythmically for a total of 10 to 15 sets.
• Go back to breathing through both nostrils.

Do you feel like you’ve created a new awareness by increasing your ability to breathe mindfully? I’d love it if you’d come to my Facebook Page and tell us your wins so we can encourage each other to keep going.

As a heads up, there are still other wellness indicators that we’ll discuss in the future. But why wait? Take the 7-Point Body Wellness Assessment today and get a jumpstart on making the coming New Year the best one yet. Click here to download your free copy.