This 19-Second “Lung Exercise” Forces Out Toxins And Helps Detox The Body (Try it Now!)
We often take our most vital life force for granted, but breathing is the most important bodily function.
It oxygenates the body, helps deliver vital nutrients, vitamins, and minerals – and allows the brain to function at optimal levels.
Every breath you breathe fills your lungs with oxygen that gets transported to your blood and organs. And each time you exhale, you eliminate toxins and waste in the form of carbon dioxide.
However, most people are not breathing at optimal levels.
The body absorbs vitamins, minerals, and nutrients more efficiently – all while promoting healthy white blood cells, a healthy immune response, and even releasing stress, anxiety, and improving sleep!
The best part?
You don’t have to be a yogi or experienced meditator to do breathwork. Breathwork is a powerful tool that anyone can do to improve mental, physical, and emotional well-being at any time.
During a breathwork practice, you simply change your breathing pattern and the way that you inhale and exhale each breath.
Although there are many different types of breathwork exercises, there are a few simple techniques you can start doing right away to breathe deeper and stronger for greater health!
The Power of Breathwork for Toxin Release
Since proper deep breathing is responsible for releasing the majority of toxins in our body, it’s important to start focusing on this right away.
In the last 50 years, toxic chemicals have begun to dominate our daily society. A lot of toxins have been linked to major illnesses, affecting millions of people worldwide. These toxins can come from a variety of both manmade and natural occurring pollutants, such as air pollutants, pesticides, chemicals from cleaning or beauty products – and even certain molds and bacteria.
A recent report from the Environmental Working Group (EWG), stated that people are exposed to over 100 dangerous chemicals every single day!
Harvard also reports that several of these toxins can play a major role in weight gain, insulin and blood glucose disruption, and even dangerously impact the kidneys and liver.
That is why finding a natural and safe solution to jumpstart clearing dangerous toxins is crucial for overall health and there are certain breathing techniques that can help you do just that!
When you practice deep rhythmic breathing, your diaphragm expands.
When this happens, your body relaxes and your lymphatic system (which helps in the waste elimination process) gets massaged.
If you aren’t breathing deeply or moving on a regular basis, your lymphatic fluids can become stagnant and blocked from releasing waste.
This can lead to high blood pressure, heart problems, weight gain, fatigue, and inflammation.
Learning to breathe deeply is an easy process, and once you get accustomed to deep breathing exercises, your day-to-day breathing will become less shallow and allow your body to work more efficiently.
How To Breathe Out Dangerous Toxins (Try This Now!)
There are several signs that your body could have toxic buildup.
These include:
- Fatigue
- Brain Fog
- Hair Loss
- Brittle Nails
- Nausea
- Weight Gain
- Bad Breath
While these are generally shorter-term side effects, long-term toxicity can be linked to several major illnesses like heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancers, and more.
The good news is, there is a powerful breathing exercise you can try right now… and it only takes 19-seconds to do!
The breathwork is called the 4-7-8 technique and it was developed by Dr. Andrew Weil.
To perform the 4-7-8 technique, sit down and do the following breathing pattern:
- First exhale and empty your lungs of all the air
- Inhale deeply through your nose for 4 seconds
- Hold your breath for 7 seconds
- Exhale forcefully through your mouth for 8 seconds (purse your lips and make a “woosh” sound.
- Repeat up to 4 times
If this breathing pattern is too difficult for you to start with, Dr. Weil advises that you can practice a shorter pattern as you start to work on your lung capacity.
To do the shorter version:
- Inhale through the nose for 2 seconds
- Hold the breath for 3.5 seconds
- Exhale through the mouth for 4 seconds
*Please note: After you finish, you may notice a feeling of euphoria, so it’s important to not do this while you are standing, driving, or operating machinery.
You can use this practice throughout your day, and something incredible about it is that the more you do it, the stronger the results you’ll get.
This is also a great practice for those who experience insomnia or wake up in the middle of the night and have trouble falling back to sleep.
Practicing Breathwork Today And Beyond
4,7,8 is an easy, fast, and powerful breathing technique, but there are many more exercises to continue using breathwork for mental, physical, and emotional healing.
Another easy practice to start incorporating breathwork into your life is to practice breath awareness.
Breath Awareness is simply the act of paying attention to how you are breathing throughout the day. It is a mindfulness practice. It does not require changing your breathing patterns at all.
This can also be called “breath-watching.”
You can do this whenever you watch tv, read a book, grocery shop, and most importantly during times of stress and anxiety.
By bringing awareness to how you are breathing during different times throughout your day, you will start to notice a trend with your breathing patterns.
This will help you recognize when you aren’t breathing as deeply as you should, and help you know when to add a breathing session into your routine.
Conclusion
The human body can go months without food, and days without water.
However, we can only survive a few minutes without oxygen. There are many benefits to deep breathing and detoxing the body is one of them.
We are exposed to more pollutants and chemicals than ever before, and maximizing lung health through deep breathing is a powerful and natural way to revitalize overall health.
Practice 4,7,8 and other deep exercises daily to help restore lung capacity, clear dangerous toxins, and promote a healthy life.
About The Author:
Esther Johnson is a health writer for the Barton Publishing family. She is also a Board-Certified Holistic Health Practitioner and Breathwork Facilitator. She gives breathwork sessions online and in person in Portland, Oregon.
Sources:
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