5 Benefits of Deep Breathing

Yoga is not only about getting exercise and stretching your muscles, but it’s also about your spirit. It’s a time when you can slow down, focus, and use long, deep breathing to relax your inner self and your physical being at the same time. This creates a great amount of balance and energy flowing through you on all levels that will last throughout the entire day and beyond.

How often do you just relax and focus on your breath? If you are still for a few moments and take long deep breaths, you’ll notice you instantly (and almost magically) feel better. This is because the air gets a chance to really move through your body instead of going in and out in quick puffs. The same is true when you’re doing yoga. There are many benefits to this practice, and here are just a few:

1. Long deep breathing releases toxins. Your body has many mechanisms to eliminate unwanted waste, and the lungs hold a special place in these functions. By taking in and letting out slow deep breaths, your lungs fully expand and contract, forcing out any waste products, helping to detoxify the body.

2. Breathing has several functions, one of them being the forcing of blood to the cells of the body. Breathing deeply during yoga practice sends the blood to all those parts of the body you are using and stretching, meaning fresh blood and oxygen are reaching all the places they…