Why is the Way I Breathe Important?
Breathing well can help with so much of our health. Good breathing delivers oxygen to the organs and muscles of the body. It helps balance our blood pH (acidity). Breathing helps with constriction and dilation of blood vessels. The way you breathe can affect your anxiety and stress levels.
We have a few videos on how to use the diaphragm to breath on our YouTube channel:
and
These are basic breathing strategies to help with aches and pains and to calm the nervous system down. In both of these videos we are just working on relaxing and breathing.
How Can I Tell if I'm Breathing Well?
You can do a simple test at home in order to know if you are a good breather, or if breath training is right for you.
The test is called The Body Oxygen Level Test (BOLT). It is a quick 5 step process to check your score: (you will need a stopwatch or timer)
Take a normal breath in and out through your nose
Hold your nose with your fingers to prevent air entering your lungs
Time how long it takes until you feel the first desire to breathe or stress to breathe
Release your nose and stop the time
Resume normal breathing
Those are the 5 steps to get your bolt score.
With your results, you will fit in to one of 4 categories:
Less than 10 seconds
10-20 seconds
20-30 seconds
30 seconds or more
A Few Strategies to Improve Your BOLT
Work on breathing using your nose only (both in and out)
Trying to avoid sighing and taking big breaths
Work on breathing multiple times per day.
Why Should I Work on Breathing?
Increases in BOLT scores have shown increased overall health benefits. These include decreased symptoms from exercise-induced asthma, weight loss without dieting, improved oxygenation of the heart, and reduced injury and fatigue.
If you have any questions about breath training, feel free to reach out to us (425-202-5687; info@bodyfixpt.com)
Comments