Correctly Breathing Helps Losing Weight

Breathing is important to the way we use energy into our bodies. A proper breathing technique can help you to relax, feel good, it can also help you lose weight. While everyone breathes to some extent, most of us do not breathe properly, and are therefore not getting sufficient oxygen to fuel the metabolic functions of the body. If the body's metabolism is working well, then it helps you to lose weight more effectively than a stagnant metabolic rate, which can reduce the amount of energy (and fat) that the body burns.

How to Breathe Correctly

Here are a few tips for breathing properly:

• inhale slowly and deeply through the nose on a count of 5 seconds
• let your chest open and your belly expand outwards
• then exhale slowly through the mouth
• empty your lungs completely by compressing the belly, engaging your diaphragm

A lot of martial arts classes and yoga classes usually incorporate good breathing techniques - try ashtanga or vinyasa yoga.

One way of correcting the depth of breathing we do and hence the amount of oxygen we take in, is to do exercise. This will increase the amount of air that the lungs take it, making the lungs stronger. Through exercise, your lungs will gradually expand and you will end up breathing more deeply with each breath.

Alternatively, there are a number of breathing techniques that are beneficial to weight loss that you can practise daily, with or without exercise. A number of books such as this one, describes such breathing techniques.