Breathing For Beauty: Exhale Your Way To Healthy Skin

How do you get beautiful, glowing, healthy skin? It's a question that many of us ask, and the answers you find on the Internet can be extremely varied. Whether you're looking for a product to fix everything or a tip towards a lifestyle change, there are so many pieces of advice out there that it's hard to know where to start.

If we told you that you could improve your skin by merely doing breathing exercises, you might not believe us. After all, your body already knows how to do it, right? However, the truth is, most of us don't always spend a lot of time breathing deeply. If you're always on the go, you might be breathing more shallowly than you realise.

The truth is, breathing well can help to create healthier, fresher-looking skin that will get you compliments all day long. Still doubtful? Let us explain how

What are breathing exercises?

Breathing exercises are a meditative practice that yogis have engaged in for many generations to learn how to manipulate their breath. By consciously following steps on how to breathe deeply, you become more aware of your breath and learn how to control it so that you can ensure that it's doing what you want it to do.

Here are just some of the ways that deep breathing can help our bodies and our skin.

Breathing exercises bring oxygen in and push carbon dioxide out

The practice of breathing deeply, in a deliberate fashion, will do great things for your bloodstream. First of all, you will drive more carbon dioxide out of your body. This gets rid of any toxic excess that might cause problems such as dizziness, headaches, and fatigue.

The second thing that happens is that you put more oxygen into your body. If it sounds obvious, that just underlines how true it is! Every single cell in our bodies needs oxygen to function correctly. All of this serves to invigorate your skin, get your blood flowing better, and lets your cells and tissues spring to life — key ingredients to getting that glow of healthy skin.

Breathing deeply lowers stress levels

We all know that too much or constant stress can have a strong negative effect on our bodies. Just by experiencing high levels of anxiety or pressure, we can fall ill, lose sleep, age quicker, and even open ourselves up to more profound consequences such as a shorter lifespan. Stress also has an effect on our skin. The more stressed you are, the more likely it is that you will have dull, dry, blotchy, or blemish-covered skin.

That's why breathing exercises are great for you in more ways than one. You'll also get the chance to stop for a moment and unwind, let your muscles relax, and allow all of your cares to drift away.

At that moment, the only thing you need to concentrate on is breathing in and out. Everything else disappears — giving you a much-welcome break from stress and a chance to calm down and reduce your overall levels.

Techniques to help you breathe deeply and promote healthy skin

Here are a few quick techniques that you can use to learn how to control your breathing. This will contribute to your healthy skin and help you to unwind at the same time.

• The easiest way to become more aware of your breath is to start by lying on your back and placing your hand on your diaphragm, just below your ribcage. Breathe in slow and deep, and feel your diaphragm move out and your whole body expand. Breathe out slowly and feel your diaphragm drop down and contract. Repeat for five deep breaths once a day whenever it’s convenient. Continue practising this slow deep breathing throughout the week.

• Once you’ve become used to deep breathing, start your day by sitting up comfortably and take a deep breath in. Exhale quickly, then repeat at least five times. The shorter exhale will help to raise your heart rate and wake your body up!

• Then, before you go to sleep, practice taking deep lungful after lungful of air. Do this through the nose, as inhaling through the nostrils allows more oxygen to be extracted in your lungs. Exhale for two counts longer than you inhale, and keep going for five or ten minutes until you feel relaxed and calm.

 Breathing mindfully will allow you to improve your circulation, reduce stress — and promote healthier skin. When all it costs are a few breathing exercises, it certainly seems worth a go!

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