2 Breathing Techniques for Wellness + Beauty
In every human body there’s a nervous system, and in this system, there are two states: parasympathetic and sympathetic. Although there’s typically activity in both at the same time, what matters is how much and in what state.
Parasympathetic is known as our “rest-and-digest” state--it allows our bodies to do the work of detoxing, digesting, and making any repairs. Our sympathetic state is our “fight-or-flight”. In other words, our sympathetic state is “doing” while parasympathetic is “being”.
Most of us live in a sympathetic state, despite the fact that we should be in a parasympathetic state about 80-90% of the time for optimal health. This is usually attributed to just how busy our society is--we work, a lot, and when we’re not working, we’re busy running errands, cooking, cleaning, and trying to keep up with life in general.
While this isn’t always a bad thing, many studies have shown that this sympathetic state lives by another name: stress. Small amounts of stress are totally normal and even healthy, but when it’s a chronic state, it can affect your overall health and wellbeing. In addition, the excess cortisol this produces heavily influences how you age, right down to how your skin looks. So, yes, it’s true--stress directly affects beauty.
This is where breathing techniques come in. Take a moment to pause and consider how you’re breathing right now: is it deep into the abdomen, with your belly expanding? Is it fast, slow, or somewhere in between? Are you exhaling completely with each breath?
These are all indicators of your mental, emotional, and physical state, and directly correlate to the reactivity of your nervous system. In a parasympathetic state, we naturally breathe slowly, deeply, and release our breath completely. In a sympathetic state, we tend to breath quickly, shallowly, and we never truly exhale all the way. The fastest way to go from a sympathetic state to a parasympathetic one is by changing your breathing pattern.
Researchers have come up with many different breathing techniques, but the two we’ll talk about below are some of the most common and effective. They’re used by meditation teachers, members of the military, and yogis alike. You can always modify the counts if you need to, but the important part is to try to match the overall pattern. Do either of these breathing techniques for five minutes, 2-3 times a day and you’ll notice a significant difference.
Breathing Technique #1 - The Box Breath
The Box Breath is used worldwide, all the way up to the upper echelons of the military who use this technique to stay calm in true “fight-or-flight” situations. So, you know it works! Here’s how:
Exhale completely.
Inhale for the count of 1-2-3-4
Hold the breath for the count of 1-2-3-4
Exhale for the count of 1-2-3-4
Hold for the count of 1-2-3-4
And repeat.
That’s it! Super simple. Do this for just a minute or two, and you’ll notice a big difference in how you feel. In fact, we recommend you try it right now!
Breathing Technique #2 - The 4-7-8 Breath
The 4-7-8 Breath is widely used just like the Box Breath, but this technique is meant to take you into an even deeper state of peace. It’s perfect for meditation, to calm anxiety, or to help you fall asleep at night. It works by drawing out the exhale, which signals to your body to relax as deeply as possible. Here’s how:
Exhale completely.
Inhale for the count of 1-2-3-4
Hold the breath for the count of 1-2-3-4-5-6-7
Exhale slowly for the count of 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8
Pause, then inhale for the count of 1-2-3-4
And so on.
This can be tricky to do for a first timer, depending on how much experience you have with breathwork. It can feel uncomfortable to hold the breath and/or exhale for eight counts, so be kind to yourself! If you need to modify the counts, you can easily do so and just gradually work your way up to 4-7-8.
If you try either of these breathing techniques, let us know how they go!
The author of this blog, Layla Hanson, is a writer and project manager for Infinity Aesthetics, specializing in holistic media production. You can see her popping in and out of the office from time to time to snap photos for our Instagram and website. Feel free to say hi and offer to pose for a picture!