Due to the pandemic, the ancient practice of breathwork is again gaining popularity. It’s not just limited to deep breaths and meditation, and people have actually started giving importance to breathwork as much as physical and mental fitness.

‘Breathe’ is such an underrated word. We have been breathing since the moment we were born but how many times have we taken a moment to have an actual, deep, breath? Practicing breathwork is much more than just inhaling and exhaling.

Breathwork is the body’s own unique power to heal itself. The ancient practice known to us by different names have different variations and styles but the core purpose remains the same – to improve mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being. Taking a deep breath, and feeling the rhythmic inhalation and exhalation can really help us to live our life to the fullest just like full breaths.

Here are few benefits of breathwork that you might be missing out on:

1. Reduces Stress, Anxiety, and Anger

We all have bad days when we are stressed, anxious, or even sad. At those times it is suggested to take deep breaths. This not just feels calm and relaxed but actually has a scientific explanation to it. Taking long breaths originating from the abdomen activates the parasympathetic nervous system that lowers our heart rate and blood pressure – making us feel calm and relaxed.

2. Builds Immunity

Breathwork can also help your physical health by giving you more energy, improving your stamina, and also boosting immunity. The more deep breaths you take, more will be the oxygen inhaled, more will be the energy transferred to the blood cells. The increased amount of oxygen in the blood helps during times of anxiety, high-intensity workout, running, or even during diseases.

3. Improves Sleep

The low-grade stress and anxiety that we deal with in our everyday lives, not even realizing, have a major impact on our quality of sleep and sleep patterns. Practicing breathwork calms down the nervous system, reduces the effect of stimulants making you anxious. That’s the reason meditation and breathing techniques are widely advised in the case of insomnia.

4. Reduces Pain

If you are tired of taking pain killers and are finally fed up with the chronic pain, then you might want to try practicing breathwork. Practicing breathwork reconnects you to your body and kick starts the healing process. The science behind this is that deep breaths release more endorphins which reduces the body’s sensitivity towards pain and makes you feel better. It just doesn’t reduce the pain but also makes the muscles and joints stronger.

5. Removes toxins from your body

Deep breathing is the simplest and the easiest way to remove toxins from your body. The study says 50% of the toxins expelled from the body are through deep breathing. The main toxin here is carbon dioxide, the more you remove carbon dioxide from your body the more your body is capable of inhaling oxygen. This process detoxifies your body, boosts lung efficiency, improves blood circulation, and promotes a healthy heart.

6. Improves Digestion

As much as practicing breathwork benefits our cardiovascular and respiratory systems, it also benefits our digestive system. When you are less stressed and anxious, you start making conscious and healthy food choices. Moreover, breathwork improves the blood flow through the digestive tract, resulting in improved intestinal activities. Breathwork reduces bloating, gas, and improves cortisol and gut inflammation.

7. Improves concentrating power

Breathwork helps you to connect with your own body, self-explore, and understand your own healing powers. This improves your creativity, helps you to think deeper, provides new insights into things, and gives inspiration. Breathwork is said to improve your memory, cognitive functions, and brain functions. Through practicing breathwork you become more aware of yourself and your surroundings, helping you to be present in the situation, finding the flow in the work, and concentrate better.

8. Good for Cardiovascular Health

Practicing breathwork improves the blood flow through the cardiovascular system improving its functioning and heart health. The continuous expansion and relaxation of the diaphragm massages the lymphatic system. It also stimulates the vagus nerve which takes you out of the ‘fight or flight situation, making you feel less anxious and more relaxed. Breathwork reduces the chances of heart diseases and heart stroke.

9. Brings Glow on the Skin

Breathwork nurtures your body as well as your skin too. It has some wonderful effects on your skin, it makes it soft, glowing, and plump. Deep breathing increases the oxygen supplied to the blood cells, resulting in healthier-looking skin that glows from within. Breathing exercises are too used to cure skin problems, improve the texture, and lift up the skin too. It detoxifies your body, de-stress and that happiness shows on your face.

10. Strengthen Lungs

Breathwork is also one of the best exercises to make your lungs stronger, especially for people who have weak lungs or respiratory diseases. Deep breathing engages your lungs and diaphragm to work at their maximum capacity, practising this improves your breathing quality, Soon it increases the elasticity and capacity of your lungs. Thus you can inhale more oxygen, converting it into more energy.