Our current era is driven by constant pressures from our job, family commitments, financial and health issues. All of this creates body and mind tensions which can, if chronic, may lead to serious illnesses such as hypertension, immune system dysfunction, respiratory problems and sleep disorders.
There are many ways to cope with stress and the approach is very individual, there is no one ultimate solution. However, there is one technique which everyone can develop and is free: mindful breathing. Mindful breathing contains two elements: mindfulness and breathing.
Many people will ask why should I exercise breathing, it is automatic. However, more than 70% of people breathe very shallow and fast which is a cause and a consequence of mental stress. Hundreds of studies have now shown that deep slow breathing deeply affect our nervous system and has many health benefits.
To increase the power of breathing techniques, mindfulness come into play. Mindfulness is a now well-known technique introduced by Jon Kabat Zinn in the 70s. We will dive into this topic in a later post.