Breathing exercises hold special importance in the present times, courtesy, air pollution! People with asthma, consistent irritating cough and congestion problems tend to experience difficulty in breathing and thus it is important for them to take extra precaution to beat ill effects of air pollution. For people who are not suffering from such respiratory illness, it is important to maintain a healthy lifestyle and do some breathing exercises to prevent risks of catching them. Lifestyle coach Luke Coutinho agrees, and shares a set of breathing exercises as part of the Lung Cleanse he recently shared on Instagram.
Breathing Exercise: Luke Coutinho’s Lung Cleanse
Luke suggests that this lung cleanse must be done after an hour or two after having breakfast.
To begin with the exercise, you need to stand with your arms on sides and feet slightly apart. Try relaxing yourself. Now, take a few deep breaths and exhale through your nose.
Slowly, start breathing through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth.
Exhale slow enough that you are unable to exhale anymore. However, do not stop there as there is still air left in your lungs. Some air (residual air) remains in lungs and does not get replaced as we breathe.
The next involves forcing your diaphragm to exhale air from your lungs by wheezing. You can exhale multiple times from your mouth with ho, ho, ho, until you feel there is no more air in the lungs. Once you do this, you will feel as if you have pulled your belly towards spine.
After this, inhale clean air to your lungs through your nose. Once you inhale, hold your breath for 6 seconds. By this point, your lungs are going to be filled with fresh oxygen.
After this, exhale again through your mouth until there is no air left in your lungs. Repeat the ho, ho process to get all the stale air out of your lungs.
This whole procedure should be repeated as many times as you like.
This breathing exercise, when done regularly, can completely purify your lungs. Luke informs that this breathing exercise also perform the benefit of strengthening your stomach. It will also help in toning of your skin and bringing back its lost glow. Remember that air pollution can have devastating effects on your skin.
Besides, there are traditional breathing exercises like Pranayama, Kapalbhati, etc, which can ease breathing for you and also provide your lungs with oxygen.
(Luke Coutinho, Holistic Lifestyle Coach – Integrative Medicine)
