Without needing breathing exercises, we forget how automatic and important breathing is. Sometimes our breathing pattern or air changes wake us up to get back to our healthy breath awareness in this moment. Our breathing can easily remind us of our precious moments and the finite time we have on earth.
And in healthy reminders, I wanted to breathe some good tips your way!
…Breathing is everything life. It’s how the earth began:
“God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7)
With climate change, wildfires, and spring green pollen allergy dust in the air at high levels (over 10), many of us are affected from the lungs and neck up.
I suspected allergies was affecting my sleep as I was clocking in about the same amount of hours from night to morning and not feeling as rested.
I had been documenting a healthy 8 hours of sleep time on my Apple Watch and tracker.
I noticed my body runs best when I have 5 hours of restful sleep that’s also tracked.) And choosing a life with less stress and more balance, 7 hours is a good enough rhythm.
And something for you to clock in because stress and sleep is related.
Observe Your Sleep
While tracking a few nights for awareness, I observed I was getting less restful sleep and more light sleep. Hmmm… I thought, I wonder why that is?
All things being equal, I wanted to test the hypothesis that I had shallow breathing at night.
It dawned on me that my deep rest (restful sleep) may have been lessened by the shallower breathing or less air going into my lungs, as I breathed through my slightly congested nose.
Btw, breathing in air through your nose is a much better way than through your mouth as it is known to help increase memory. You have a filter in your nose that you don’t in your mouth. You can Google that if you want scientific-backed evidence.
These are 10 breathing exercises and habit tips for healthy living:
1.Change your air filters in your home or apartment often. Once you know how these affect your breathing, you’ll never go back to old and dusty filters. You can’t count on any roof over your head, no matter how modern, to have clean filters unless you change them.
Most first time home buyers and young renters have never learned to change air filters. This is a good thing for parents to teach older kids while they’re still at home.
For health reasons is most important, but clean air filters result in lower energy bills when changed every 3-6 months.
2.Change out your air filters in your portable air purifier. If you don’t have a HEPA air purifier machine in the room where you sleep, consider investing in one. The quiet white noise drowns out street noises that can also interrupt sleep.
The specific HEPA filters should catch pollen, mold, and dander small particles.
If your air purifier and filters are working effectively, you should feel a difference in your energy level. And if you’re not sure, compare with a room where you don’t have a filter. You should notice a difference if you’re affected.
In a good way, you no longer feel as lightheaded (or mind fog) from the air you breathe in regularly and during sleep that’s a good number of hours.
If you live on the east coast especially, pollen is high up and down the coast and even around the seaside areas. There’s no escape especially in metropolitan and urban areas.
I’d recommend getting an additional table purifier where you spend most your day.
Purifiers are like refrigerators or televisions where they can last many years if you keep them maintained and vacuum dust off of the filters regularly.
The filters can be costly at $70 for a 6-12 month replacement, but when you consider that is less than the cost of one cup of coffee per week, and saving your vital organ lungs that no one talks about (and why I’m mentioning), I’d say that’s a no-brainer decision.
I learned the hard way contracting walking pneumonia from an office building (story below), so you can’t be too cautious and hopefully you learn from my lessons.
3. If you drive a car and you spend a lot of time driving, get the air filters changed especially when you start the season of cranking up forced air.
When I was in college, I drove my first car. The most expensive maintenance on the car was changing the air filters that under the hood always seemed to be gray or turn black.
Newer model cars have night and day technology and exhausts compared to the older ones.
So, along with air filters as a mission for your daily healthy life, you can work on daily mindful breathing exercises.
4.When you’re awake, do purposeful inhaling through your nose as breathing exercises. The 4-7-8 breathing where you inhale for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 7 seconds, and then exhale for 8 seconds.
You may feel a sudden bit of light-headedness because your body’s not used to the change in your head air cabin pressure. It’s sorta like a sudden wind that hits you. Then you catch your breath and find your balance.
5. Do Ujjayi yoga controlled nasal breathing exercises through the diaphragm. You force out the old air. You can do this in small, nasal air puffs counting to 10, and then taking in one big inhale. You alternate closing off one nostril and then doing the other side.
6.You can also expand your lungs by singing. When you sing out loud, you naturally open your mouth for sound and air to come out. This can be an enjoyable way to do breathing exercises.
You can use the your singing airwaves to clear out the old air and dusty cobwebs in your lungs.
If you have chest or nasal congestion, you can hear the slight discorded change in sounds similar to an instrument being tuned.
7. Pick low air allergen days to spend time outside. If you have outdoor allergies, you’re smart to check the pollen count during pollen seasons and see which days are best to get outside and keep the windows open.
A good time to crack open the window for fresh air is when a cleansing storm has just passed.
8. Wear a air filtered surgical mask. We’ve all gotten accustomed to them. If you wear a mask outdoors, you have a shield and protection from some of the allergens and dust particles.
9.Make a habit to wear a surgical mask doing weekly or spring cleaning chores. When you dust or clear out a kitty litter or anything that can cause irritants in your lungs, you’re better off slipping on a mask. And if you make a habit to slip on a mask regularly, then that’ll be automatic.
Regular chores like changing out dryer lint compartments or replacing a vacuum cleaner bag can change your lung’s health.
Masks are also good for projects such as painting, using sprays, and heavy duty cleaning supplies.
10. Grow an indoor plant or a tree. As April is Earth Day and Arbor Day celebration months, we can be reminded of nature’s role that gives us life. You could grow a plant or try a new yoga tree pose.
In the photosynthesis process, our human exhaled carbon dioxide is exchanged for oxygen provided by trees and plants. I picture the cleanest air in a rain forest where you can smell the purest organic soil. I imagine that was the air that our ancestors long ago breathed.
Sometimes it does feel like we live in our own modern day jungle.
When I was working in a glass office building decades ago (long before yoga or breathing exercises became popular), little did I or my employers know that the building had a high amount of mold behind the walls and ceilings.
On the exterior, the modern office with glass looked like your typical free of clutter high-tech office.
Then one day, I developed a sinus infection. After that cleared up, another one came about. Then a full-blown walking pneumonia episode that lasted for weeks. Its development seemed surreal as I’d never had a sinus or lung infection before and now I was hit with several.
I had no idea where it came from at first. But then I considered where I spent most my time. And besides my home, it was the office. Somehow I knew it wasn’t the home because I didn’t feel off there. I felt tired at work and so did others I worked with.
So I asked the work higher ups for a test inspection be made on the building. And they found the mold test results were off the charts.
From there, I requested my employer purchase an air purifier for my desk. They did, and I felt better about going into work.
My feelings and my body’s warnings helped because I was the canary in the coal mine for the office.
This reminds me of the Genesis story after man was created where the dove that Noah sent out never came back. So that was sign that the flood was over.
And the office inspection test results was the sign that the company needed to relocate. And a sign to prioritize finding clean air wherever I go. And you could do that too.