Better Breathing = Banishing Stress

One form of natural stress relief is meditation techniques, which often involves the use of specific breathing techniques. This stress relief technique helps calm the mind and create an overall sense of peace and relaxation.

There are many forms of meditation and many are linked to certain religions or spiritual beliefs. Hinduism has many schools of meditation, including yoga. Buddhists use meditation to reach a state of enlightenment and many Jewish prayers are meditative in nature. Even many Christian religions utilize forms of meditation, such as the use of rosary beads n Catholicism.

Meditation does not, however, have to be about a spiritual or religious journey. Rather, it is a natural treatment for stress and anxiety that is accomplished by getting the mind, body, and spirit in balance.

To accomplish this, a person using meditation as a form of natural stress relief must find a quiet place. There are no strict rules regarding body positioning when meditating, but most people who use meditation as a form of natural stress relief prefer to do so in the lotus position. The lotus position involves sitting with the legs crossed while keeping the back straight and the shoulders level. Yet other practitioners prefer to sit comfortably, but with the legs uncrossed.

No matter the general position chosen when using meditation for natural stress relief, it is best to keep the spine straight throughout the meditation process. This position encourages circulation and makes it easier to breathe in the deep, slow fashion that is often necessary for meditation.

After finding a quiet place to perform meditation, and after assuming a position that is comfortable, it is time to begin this process of natural stress relief. Some people prefer to remain quiet while meditating. Still others close their eyes and hum or make other repetitive noises to help clear their minds and to block out thoughts and outside noises.

Many prefer to utilize specific breathing techniques and specific thoughts in order to reach a meditative and relaxed state. One popular method is to focus on each individual part of the body. Give your self permission to relax until your entire body is relaxed. At the same time, this method calls for taking a few deep breaths. These are called cleansing breaths because they help clear the mind and bring a little extra oxygen into the blood. After the cleansing breaths, subsequent breaths should be inhaled to the count of four, and then exhaled to the count of eight. These counts help focus the breathing and clear the mind of other thoughts.

Unlike medication, there is no limit to the number of times meditation can be used. This natural stress relief technique can be used as often as necessary and for as long as needed because it does not have the negative side effects of medication. In fact, it is possible to gain relief from stress and anxiety with just a one-minute session of meditation, though 20-30 minutes of meditation is most common.

Many studies have been performed on the use of meditation as a form of natural stress relief. These studies have shown that meditation does, indeed, lower the biochemical byproducts of stress. Meditation has also been proven to reduce blood pressure and heart rate, as well as increase favorable brain waves. This is unlike many stress-relieving medications, which may temporarily reduce feelings of stress, but can cause long-term harm to the body.

In fact, meditation is used often in hospitals with patients suffering from chronic or terminal illness to reduce stress. This is especially important because stress has been shown to contribute to poor health. A 1999 report by neurophysiologist Dr. James Austin from the University of Colorado stated that meditation actually reprograms brain circuitry. His findings were later confirmed using imaging techniques that view electrical activity in the brain.

Further studies at the Mind-Body Medical Institute, which is affiliated with Harvard and several other Boston hospitals, has found that meditation causes several biochemical and physical changes associated with relaxation, including changes in heart rate, metabolism, blood pressure, respiration, and brain chemistry.

With all of the positive research surrounding meditation and relaxation breathing techniques, it is easy to see why thousands of people use the techniques every day to relieve stress and improve living.