Proper Breathing for Walking and Life

Proper breathing for walking and life? That's easy you say, I’ve been doing it my whole life. Well did you know most adults are doing it incorrectly? Infants do it much better then we do. At birth we are breathing correctly by instinct but for whatever reason, as we get older are habits change and we stop doing it correctly. While standing or sitting take a deep breath right now. Like most adults, you most likely heaved out your chest and raised your shoulders a little. You probably don't see anything wrong with using your chest to breathe, since, that's where your lungs are, but the muscle you're supposed to use to breathe, your diaphragm, is under your lungs and nearer to your belly.

A lot of people are chest breathers. They normally make use of a shallow form of respiration that utilizes just the top part of the lungs area. Really though, the majority of the blood vessels that consume oxygen are in the bottom half. So much of the lung is going to waste, leading to less oxygen. This can lead to breathing more rapidly than nature intended us to. Breathing this way also tends to lead to headaches, fatigue, anxiety and even panic attacks because of improper blood oxygen/carbon dioxide balance.
Correct breathing called abdominal breathing or belly breathing, fortifies and makes better use of our diaphragms. Luckily, you can train your body to go back to breathing properly, and over time, you will be breathing properly with out even noticing. To practice it take some time out sitting up or laying down. Inhale slowly through your nose, trying to "inflate" your stomach as you breathe in while keeping your chest relatively still. Place your hands on your belly and feel it rise as you breath in. Then exhale slowly while contracting your abdominal muscles. Do this 10-20 times or longer. Not only will this give you more oxygen per breath, it will eventually strengthen the diaphragm. allowing you get more oxygen with each breath. This stops diverting any oxygen away from your muscles, meaning that you get tired less easily.

Do this everyday for about 10-20 mins and guess what, you have also been practicing a relaxation technique called deep breathing. Studies have shown with a daily practice of deep relaxation techniques can lead to overall relaxation throughout your day, which decreases stress and muscle tension.

Research on cardiac patients showed that this type of breathing leads to enhanced performance while walking (or other exercise) and decreased shortness of breath, permitting you to definitely workout longer and much more effectively.

You can also practice this when you start out on your walk, concentrating on using your stomach muscles to inhale. As your workout progresses it may be harder to focus on the breathing but try to for as long as you can. As mentioned above, soon it will become second nature and you will be feeling better as you are walking for exercise.