In this era, many people live busy lives. Whether you are attending school, working a full time job, or taking care of multiple children, there is just a lot to do. A lot of the time we get caught up in the work of life and do not make enough or even any time to relax and enjoy our surroundings. Well, one way to do that is to plan a tropical vacation and get away with your loved ones, but this is not something that is accessible to everyone as it does come with a price. Trust me there are many other ways to manage the stresses that are apart of our everyday lives.
In recent years people have discovered how harmful stresses can truly be to the health of an individual. The importance of taking care of your mental health is not stressed enough and this is what inspired authors at Harvard Medical School decided to publish an article explaining how the practice of deep breathing can help with stress management.
The article began by mentioning the definition of a stress response. The authors explained how it is the way in which the body prepares us to face or avoid dangerous situations. The stress response is also referred to as the “fight or flight” response. For many people, this response is provoked on a daily basis due to the presence of minor stresses. This is when stress becomes harmful to an individual’s mental and physical health. The article elaborated on how stresses can lead to health problems by causing hypotension (high blood pressure) and weakening the immune system, which protects our bodies. Next, the article explained the relaxation response by stating, “The relaxation response is a state of profound rest that can be elicited in many ways, including meditation, yoga, and progressive muscle relaxation.”
The article then went into the benefits of deep breathing. It mentioned how “Shallow breathing limits the diaphragm’s range of motion [because] the lowest part of the lungs doesn’t get a full share of oxygenated air.” I learned that this can lead people to “feel short of breath and anxious.” In order to fix this issue people must take longer breaths and practice deep breathing. This “can slow the heartbeat and lower or stabilize blood pressure.”
In order to explain how to practice deep breathing and receive its full range of benefits, the authors included an explanation of steps that show the reader ways in which they can practice focusing on their breath. The authors also elaborated on how the reader can create a breath focus routine. One of their tips was to “choose a special place where you can sit (or lie down) comfortably and quietly.”
Lastly, the article mentioned numerous other techniques that elicit the relaxation response. These are helpful in the case that deep breathing is not working for the individual. A few of the techniques included “yoga, tai chi, and Qi Gong.”
Overall, I enjoyed this article because I personally struggle with managing the stresses within my own life and I believe this information may be able to help me do a better job at taking care of my own mental health. It can be difficult for me to prevent the stress response with so much going on in my life. With school work, extracurricular activities, college applications, and maintaining a social life, I sometimes forgot to pause and take care of myself. I believe that practicing deep breathing will help me learn how to enjoy my life more. We practice breath focus in my ceramics class at school and I feel it really helps to calm me down.
This article helped in developing my understanding of health and medicine by showing me the importance of mental health, rather than physical health. I now have a better understanding of the importance of stress management. I have learned about various techniques that I can use to elicit the relaxation response and I am eager to try them out and see the extent to which they can help me take care of my own mental health.
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