Learn about brain health and nootropics to boost brain function
(Natural News) Getting rid of toxins in the body sounds like a monumental task, but it’s surprisingly easy to get rid of a giant proportion of them. In fact, with one simple exercise that requires no equipment other than your body, you can get rid of as much as 70 percent of the toxins that are currently wreaking havoc on your health. Perhaps best of all, you don’t even need to be particularly athletic to pull this exercise off.
Deep breathing has the power to get rid of toxins thanks to its effects on the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system is what neutralizes and carries toxins from your cells to the circulatory system, where they should get cycled through your kidneys and liver and then excreted. Unfortunately, however, the lymphatic system doesn’t have a pump the way your circulatory system has the heart keeping everything moving. Instead, your lymphatic system depends on body movement and breathing.
When you don’t move enough and your breaths are too shallow, your body simply cannot detoxify effectively. Your lymphatic system slows, and you might feel a range of symptoms ranging from weight gain and high blood pressure to inflammation and fatigue.
That’s why you need to focus on deep breathing. There are several different approaches you can take. One popular method is belly breathing, which entails sitting or lying flat in a position you find comfortable with one hand on your belly right under your ribs and the other on your chest. From this position, take one deep breath through your nose while letting your belly nudge your hand outward. Ensure your chest isn’t moving as this happens.
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Next, with pursed lips, breathe out like you’re whistling. As you feel the hand you’ve placed on your belly go in, use it to push out all the air. Repeat this several more times.
Once you’ve gotten the hang of this technique, you might wish to move on to some more advanced methods. Another good option is 4-7-8 breathing. You can lie down like you did in belly breathing, or you can do this one sitting down if you’d prefer.
Take a slow and deep breath from your belly and count to four in your head while breathing in. Then, hold your breath for a count of seven. Next, you need to breathe out fully while counting silently to eight. It may take some practice, but your goal is to get all of the air in your lungs out as you reach the number eight. This can be repeated several times until you feel yourself calming down.
There are other approaches you can try, including roll breathing and morning breathing.
Although detoxifying is plenty of motivation on its own, deep breathing also triggers your parasympathetic nervous system, promoting a sense of calmness and overall well-being. It’s a great way to reduce stress, which is why many people find that breathing-focused practices like yoga can take the edge off depression, stress and anxiety. It can also help enhance your cardiovascular capacity, so you get the most out of your workouts.
Deep breathing techniques like pranayama have also been shown to benefit the immune system, improve the quality of your blood, and enhance your brain function by supplying it with more oxygen.
The good news is that you can practice deep breathing anywhere you happen to be. It’s easy to fit it into your day, so try to do it as often as possible. You’ll be surprised at what a big difference something so simple can make to your well-being!
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