Own your breathing and use your belly! But why?
Breathing in & out through the nose helps us take fuller & deeper breaths which stimulates the lower lung to distribute greater amount of oxygen throughout the body. And lower lung is rich with the parasympathetic nerve receptors associated with calming the body & mind.
The nose acts like a filter; the air has more passages to go through than by inhaling through the mouth. This extra time flowing through airway passages warms the air. We want to conserve that heat energy so it can transfer to muscles & tissues.
Breathing through the nose can help in developing a slower, more focused breath. By lengthening the breath, we can establish a more profound inner gaze & meditative state.
One of my favorite quote “when you own your breath, nobody can steal your peace”
And belly breathing exercises are a powerful way to relieve stress and turn on the relaxation response. It works because of the vagus nerve, which attaches to the bottom of the diaphragm, directs the parasympathetic nervous system.
