Before we dive into basic science of deep breathing or all about deep breathing meditation or deep breathing exercises, I wish to ask you question, are you seeing any miracle in your day to day to life?
Most of you would give a simple answer: No.
Breathe is miracle! The event that happens 20,000 to 22,000 times per day automatically, We pay very little attention or not aware about this event. We are not conscious about our breathing.
What is breathe?
Oh! You gotta a question? Right? The air exchange in human body’s lungs to provide life to humans. This would be most short definition of breathe. Breathing is inspiration and expiration of the air into the human body to provide oxyzone and take out carbon dioxide.
Science of breathing
What is science of breathing? Or how we take breathe. There are two major event happen in breathing. Inspiration or inhalation and expiration or exhalation. Let us understand the pathway or journey of the air into the respiratory system of human body.
- Journey of the air starts from the nose/nostrils.
- Air enters into the pharynx (throat).
- After pharynx it enters into the larynx(Voice box).
- After this it enters into trachea.
- Goes into the two branches of lungs called as left and right bronchus.
- After bronchus it further divides into tiny bronchioles.
- Further divides into very tiny very important part where actual gas exchange happens called as alveoli.
On an average, adult human takes 7 to 8 liters of air per minute that accumulates to 11,000 liters of air in a day. Out of this 20% of O2 we take into inhale and 15% of we take out during exhale, so we take about 560 liter of the pure oxygen in a day.
The composition or air when we inhale and exhale.
| Gas | Inhale | Exhale |
| Nitrogen | 78.62% | 78.04% |
| Oxyzen | 20.84% | 16% |
| CO2 | 0.04% | 4%-5% |
| Argon | 0.96% | 0.5% to 1% |
| Water Vapour | 0.5% | 0.5% |
It is clear from the table that oxygen is consumed and CO2 is out. We are now limited our physiology/anatomy of breathing here and move towards to deep breathing.
Deep Breathing
Deep breathing is manipulation of breathing. It is focused way or alert way of breathing. Certain deep breathing exercises need to learn for benefits of deep breathing that will explained in later on this article.
What is exactly the deep breathing?
Deep breathing is technically a diaphragmatic breathing. Abdomen expands in deep breathing rather just chest expanding. It is also called belly breathing.
How to do deep breathing: Technically explained
Diaphragmatic breathing or deep breathing require to expand diaphragm. Look at below easy steps to do deep breathing.
- Put your one of the arm on abdomen and another on chest. Now inhale slowly form the nose and take breathe from abdomen. Your arm on abdomen rise slightly higher than arm on chest.
- On exhalation, take out breath very slowly and your both hands which are put on chest and abdomen down slowly together.
What happens when you do deep breathing?
It is quite interesting to know what exactly happens to your body, mind and other organs when we are doing deep breathing.
- Deep breathing exercises increases O2 in tissue level and improves ventilation perfusion.
- Naturally, when we do diaphragmatic breathing, CO2 take out is decreased and increased the amount or respective sharing or concentration of CO2 in the blood.
- Increased O2 in tissue reduces the stress to tissue and put in comfort status hence improve body’s tissue functions.
- However, increased CO2 concentration is not relatively harmful by this way. It strengthen the capacity of doing physical exercise and hence build the body strength
Benefits of deep breathing
There are lot of benefits of deep breathing or diaphragmatic breathing. We listed few in below from our primary and secondary research and fact finding.
Benefits of deep breathing for anxiety: It is similar to stress like situation. Hormone cortisol is responsible for anxiety. Deep breathing meditation improves the core part of the brain and parasympathetic nervous system such that stress hormones cortisol is balanced.
Benefits of deep breathing weight loss: When we do deep breathing CO2 concentration increases in blood and and hence we take out more CO2 from the body slowly. According to australian study in BMJ in 2013 indicated that deep breathing reduces weight.
cardiovascular capacity is measure of fitness. Aerobic exercises burns fat but when it exceeds to cardiovascular capacity then it burns vital energy element glycogen and we start losing energy from body.
Deep breathing burns only fat. It reduce stress which is responsible to burn glycogen. Hence, deep breathing is providing two benefits in one shot! Removing stress and burns fat!
Detoxification: A concentrated O2 and more and more take out of CO2 from the body gives great detoxification of the body. Infact this is one of the great technique to detoxify your body. Thus one of the best benefit of deep breathing is detoxification of body.
Benefits of deep breathing for body organs: Lung, liver and abdomen receive massage from the deep breathing. Asthma and respiratory related disease get great treatment from this.
Release Toxins: According to many research when you breathe 70% of toxins of human body release from the body. Hence, if you are not breathe properly you are at danger!
Relaxation of the body and mind: Relaxation is associated with parasympathetic nervous system. Chronic stress and anxiety decrease or eat up the nutrients and make unstable endocrine system with brain. Body pain, depression, insulin sensitiveness, adrenal outwear, muscle pain, anger ness, low energy in brain and other are all due to unbalanced sympathetic nervous system.Parasympathetic nervous system is answer to overcome these.
When you do deep breathing for few minutes in above mentioned situation it triggers the parasympathetic nervous system resulting to fast recovery. Deep breathing gives instant relaxation to brain, body organs and endocrine systems.
There are many benefits of the Deep breathing. We can write separate article on this! Now you are eager to know how to do deep breathing meditation.
How to do deep breathing meditation
Let us go straightforward! Read the below steps and do it!
Deep breathing meditation: Beginner level
This is very basic deep breathing meditation, also called as diaphragmatic breathing.
Pre-requisite for this beginner level
- Do this deep breathing meditation on empty stomach.
- You must not eat for 3 hours before this exercise.
- Avoid noisy and polluted environment, find any unpolluted and peaceful environment.
- Keep your clothes comfortable if possible.
Actual deep breathing meditation steps.
- Sit into the comfortable position on chair or on floor or on bed anywhere. If you can sit into padmasana then please sit into this yogasana.
- Close your eyes.
- Put your both arm on your knees open.
- Keep your spine erect. Comfortably erect. No strain or stretch.
- Put your one arm on your belly and another on chest.
- Take deep breath from the nose and exhale slowly very slowly
- On Inhale: Belly arm should arise more than chest arm.
- On Exhale: Belly arm and chest arm goes down parallel.
- Step 7 and 8 are important steps, and this deep breathing technique called as belly breathing or diaphragmatic breathing.
- Inhale for 5 seconds. Exhale for 5 seconds. Slowly very slowly.
- Do this entire for 2 minute, it means 12 round of inhale and exhale.
- After 2 minute feel the vibration if you have other wise just watch your breathe.
- Open your eyes slowly.
Do this deep breathing exercise for week for 2 minute then from 8th day try for 3 minute and continue for entire week.
Deep breathing meditation: Advance level
Pre-requisite for this beginner level
Same as per mentioned in beginner level deep breathing meditation.
We are introducing alternate nostril breathing technique here which is also called as anulom vilom pranayam.
Anulom vilom pranayama or alternate nostril breathing technique is door in yoga pranayam. A person who wish to begin yoga and pranayam must start from anulom vilom pranayam
Steps for Anulom vilom pranayam
- Sit into the comfortable position on chair or on floor or on bed anywhere. If you can sit into padmasana then please sit into this yogasana.
- Close your eyes.
- Put your both arm on your knees open.
- Keep your spine erect. Comfortably erect. No strain or stretch.
- Put your right arm thumb on right nostril and close it.
- Take breathe (inhale) from the left nostril for 5 seconds slowly.
- After inhale close left nostrils with finger and open right nostril and exhale for 5 seconds.
- Repeat step 6 and 7 for next 2 minute. It means 12 rounds.
- During this anulom vilom pranayam breathing imagine a white divine light comes in during inhale and dark bad negative energy goes out during exhale.
- After 2 minute, just observe what you are in. Just watch your breath and whenever you wish to end then just open your eyes.
Do this alternate nostril breathing technique for 2-3 day with 2 minute time. After this from next day you should do it for 5 minute and after 15 days it should be done for 15 minute.
We can cover more information on deep breathing and we will do it in our next article. We hope you would like the article. Share your feedback and ask queries if you have. We are more then happy to hear from you. Keep breathing. Watch your breath. Do deep breathing.
