Research has shown that BREATHING DEEPLY can do wonders for your mind, body, and soul. Deep Breathing exercises during pregnancy helps you deal with stress, releases toxins, and relaxes mind, body and improves mood.
“Run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, that lovely, mysterious and awesome space.” – Edward Abbey
Why is it harder to breath during pregnancy
Increased hormones levels play a role in making it harder for women to breath during pregnancy. Progesterone , a hormone released by our ovaries, causes you to breathe in more deeply and in some cases make you feel like you're working harder to get air (1)
Deep Breathing Exercises for Pregnancy
There are so many benefits to breathing deeply and for more, visit: http://www.onepowerfulword.com/2010/10/18-benefits-of-deep-breathing-and-how.html
Here are our favorite 8 Benefits to Breathing Deeply:
1. Detoxifies and Releases Toxins
70% of the toxins in your body are released through breathing. In case you missed that, 70 PERCENT! Think about how awful that would be if you’re not ridding your body properly of these toxins. Gross, huh?
Not only that, but it could cause other illnesses due to other systems of your body working overtime trying to get rid itself of those toxins. Do you want your baby to be receiving toxins? Probably not.
2. Releases Tension
Does anyone here love feeling tense? I hear crickets chirping…NO ONE LIKES THAT FEELING! When you’re angry, stressed, or tense your muscles constrict. Your breathing becomes shallow and your body isn’t getting the proper oxygen needed.
If you’re not getting proper oxygen, how can your little bundle get proper oxygen? I feel like anytime someone says your body isn’t getting enough oxygen, it’s not a good thing.
3. Relaxes Mind, Body and Brings Clarity
Being pregnant can be a stressful time. Not only trying to prep physically for baby’s arrival, but also mentally. Life is about to change forever…if that doesn’t cause some anxiety then you must be superwoman.
Did you know getting the proper amount of oxygen to your brain can reduce anxiety levels? It’s also good to pay attention to your breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply. This helps relax your body and can bring clarity to your mind.
4. Strengthens the Immune System
The only thing that would make feeling giant even worse would be getting sick on top of that. Let’s try and eliminate the potential for that. Breathing helps oxygen travel through your bloodstream and attach to hemoglobin in your red blood cells. This enriches your body to metabolize nutrients and vitamins, thus helping prevent and nasty bacteria from lurking.
5. Strengthens Heart
Your heart LOVES proper breathing. Want some scientific info? Doing breathing exercises makes your heart not have to work as hard. (This is a good thing.)
Deep breaths lead to more efficient lungs. What does that mean? More oxygen to the lungs directly affects the heart, making it so it doesn’t have to pump as many times to deliver oxygen to the tissues.
Second, deep breathing leads to a greater “pressure differential” in the lungs, this means greater circulation and your heart can rest a little. You don’t have to have a PhD to know that rest is GOOD!
6. Assists in Weight Control
During pregnancy, too much weight gain can be troublesome for many women. It can cause fatigue and also make labor more difficult on you and your baby. Guess what? Extra oxygen burns up excess fat more efficiently. If you are underweight, the extra oxygen feeds starving tissues and glands. It’s basically a cure-all!
7.Boosts Energy levels and Improves Stamina
This could change EVERYTHING! Growing another human is very tiring, we’ve talked about that many times before. Help make it as easy as possible on you. Just relax and take some deep breaths. It helps rejuvenate your mind and body.
8. Elevates Moods
Pregnant or not, it’s hard to always be happy. Let’s make life for yourself (and your partner, coworkers, friends, etc) better by keeping your brain at ease. Breathing helps increase pleasure-inducing chemicals in the brain to elevate moods. Yes, please.
In closing
So now we’ve told you all about WHY deep, proper breathing is so good for you, and now you probably want to know HOW to breathe properly.
We recommend checking out this guide on how to breathe properly.
Basically, breathing is kind of a big deal. Why not do it properly to reap the maximum benefits? Now if you'll excuse me, I have some breathing exercises to do!
(1) KidsHealth.org - https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/breathing.html#:~:text=As%20a%20normal%20part%20of,working%20harder%20to%20get%20air.