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3 Breathing Exercises to Relieve Stress and Improve Health

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This is a genuinely fascinating article.  The medical researchers (including Psychologists and Psychiatrists) have performed research investigating “breath work”.  “Over the last few decades, research has started to confirm what ancient cultures around the world have long believed: Breath work, the practice of correcting and controlling your breathing through simple exercises, can improve health and well-being….  At rest, your breathing should be slow and steady, between 12 and 20 breaths per minute. Consciously slowing that even further — to between five to seven breaths per minute at rest — can help reduce blood pressure, regulate heart rate and lift mood. Researchers have also reported that breathing slowly can reduce chronic pain, stress and depression, and bolster fitness and energy levels.” (active links are underlined) 

The article highlights how breathing affects our physiology through the autonomic nervous system and details different types of breathing exercises.  Note that the article is interactive allowing the readers to test their breathing, and further gives the reader breathing exercises.

This article is important for students who wish to study how our physiology affects mood, stress, depression, and anxiety.  Also, students who lean toward the clinical aspects of the field will find that the article can aide in understanding how breathing exercises can be an adjunct to therapy.  As for those who find self-help exercises to be useful, the article’s interactive nature will be appreciated in teaching breathing techniques. 

PLEASE TRY THE SELF-TEST

SOURCE

New York Times, March 3, 2023, by Alisha Haridasani Gupta

LINK TO RESOURCE

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/03/03/well/mind/breathing-exercises.html?smid=em-share

(Tiny URL)  https://tinyurl.com/2hd62jux

CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

•What is “Breath Work.”  What type of breathing is considered to be healthy? Unhealthy? The article provides a self-test:  where do you fall onto the scale?

•How does Breath Work function in the autonomic nervous system?  Give examples.

•The article provides a number of interactive breathing exercises.  Please try them.  Which type of exercise is popular with the Navy Seals?  Why?