Guided Breathing with Doctor Benji & Queen Shireen

It might surprise you to hear that most of us don’t breathe properly. For something that is supposed to come naturally, how is that so many do it the wrong way? Guided breathing practices can contribute to your health both physically and mentally.

It doesn’t take much to incorporate more conscious breathing techniques into your daily routine. However, you’ll need consistency to experience the many benefits that deeper breathing offers.

Benefits of Guided Breathing

Guided breathing helps us become more aware of the way that our bodies inhale and exhale naturally. In fact, by taking note of our breathing patterns, we can make adjustments that allow each breath to serve its intended purpose fully.

Some of the benefits affiliated with guided breathing include:

1. Lower Stress Levels

Unfortunately, the busy rush of our lives forces most of us into a habit of shallow breathing. This breathing style is associated with “fight or flight” mode. This breathing style essentially tricks our body into believing that we are in distress, increasing cortisol levels in the body.

2. Improved Pain Relief

A study found that mindful breathing can help relieve the symptoms associated with chronic pain and can actually serve as an alternative to traditional medications like opioids.

3. Decreased Anxiety

Anxiety can come in many forms and in many situations. Deep breathing prior to a big event such as a performance, speech, test or even a date can help us to remain calm.

4. Improved Heart Rate Variability

The time between your heart beats is determined by input from both your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. A higher HVR is a good sign of balance between the two systems.

5. Lower Blood Pressure

Deep breathing can help lower blood pressure by calming the sympathetic nervous system, increasing blood flow to the body’s tissue and directing blood flow to the heart.

Doctor Benjamin Tehrani took a break out of his busy day running our two locations, to go through his own guided breathing exercises. These breathing techniques were led by Shireen Farhadian, MS, RDN, a dietitian, healer, coach and blogger.

“You can do this every day several times a day, five minutes in the morning and five minutes in the evening and this can be part of your stress management toolbox,” says Shireen.

Watch and follow along with Doctor Benji as he goes through this guided breathing session on the Kings Point Foot & Ankle YouTube channel!