Don't forget to breathe!

Sure, we are always breathing, but if we aren't taking special care to increase our oxygentation levels every now and then, we could be living less than optimally. Having adequate oxygen in your body helps your body's immune system long term and helps alleviate stress and acute symptoms as well. 

Low oxygen levels in your blood can lead to immediate symptoms such as

• headache
• restlessness
• dizziness
• confusion

Sometimes in times of stress we tend to hold our breath more than when we are relaxed. This is the exact opposite of what we should be doing. Deep breathing is one of the best ways to lower stress in the body. This is because when you breathe deeply, it sends a message to your brain to calm down and relax. Those things that happen when you are stressed, such as increased heart rate, fast breathing, and high blood pressure, all decrease as you breathe deeply to relax.

You also need to know passive breathing gets 80% of the job done and you have 20% stale air in your lungs. This number increases in people with asthma and other chronic lung diseases. 

We can remedy this with active breathing exercise: stale air out

Author

Dr. Mozhgan Ashtari Dr. Ashtari is a board-certified internal medicine physician who believes that a holistic approach to health offers the greatest results. Dr. Ashtari focuses on physical, mental, and nutritional treatments that prevent chronic disease and enhance patients' overall quality of life. She has a private medical practice in Laguna Hills, CA, Enliven Medical Clinic, where she offers medical assessment and treatment in an intimate setting along with aesthetic treatments all performed by her personally.