If you suffer from breathing difficulty or you're looking to reduce stress, then naturopathic breathing treatments may be of great benefit. Naturopaths employ a variety of natural health treatments from all around the world to improve the health of the lungs, the quality of breathing, and the intake of oxygen. By practicing varied breathing exercises you can improve your energy levels, mood and cardiovascular health, and prevent disease.
Diaphragmatic Breathing
Diaphragmatic breathing, also known as natural breathing or belly breathing, is when the body breaths into the upper, middle and lower portions of the lungs and gains a full breath. Breathing from the upper and middle portions of the lungs produces shallow breathing, with less oxygen reaching the blood. Expanding the stomach and using the diaphragm muscles to inhale, as opposed to the rib cage, access to the lower lobes of the lungs. This form of breathing is taught in yoga and helps to increase energy and reduce stress levels.
Meditation
Meditation, yoga and tai chi help to promote a healthy breathing style.
Mediation and meditative practices -- such as tai chi, qi qong, mantras, hawaiian mana breathing and yoga -- utilize and control the breath specifically to create a rhythmical, slow breathing pattern and induce relaxation. These practices have significant psychological and physical health benefits, lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease, decreasing anxiety and depression, and improving fatigue. A study published in the "British Medical Journal" in 2001 found that spiritual practices, such as prayer and yoga mantras, induced a rhythm of breathing that lowered blood pressure, improved stress and benefited the respiratory system.
Buteyko Breathing
Buteyko breathing is a method of breathwork that is increasingly being recommended to asthmatic patients by doctors and naturopaths. Originally invented by a Ukrainian physician in the 1960s, recent scientific research now supports its effectiveness. In 2003 the "New Zealand Medical Journal" published a research study that showed buteyko was efficacious in reducing the symptoms of . Buteyko works by reducing and constraining the flow of breath, restricting breathing to only through the nose, and helping patients to relax when asthmatic symptoms begin to occur.
Herbal Medicine
Naturopaths, naturopathic physicians and medical herbalists will often employ herbal medicine as a method of treating conditions which impair breathing and reduce the viability of the lungs. Herbs to clear up lung infections and bronchitis include pleurisy root, grindelia, echinacea, elecampane and thyme. Herbs to open up the airways and bronchial tubes include ascelpius, lungwort, elecampane, ground ivy and black haw. Herbs to reduce inflammation in the lungs include ginkgo and turmeric.
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