Sedentary Lifestyle & Lungs

It's no denial that most of us are leading a sedentary lifestyle nowadays. A  sedentary lifestyle is a type of lifestyle involving little or no physical activity. A person living a  sedentary lifestyle is often sitting or lying down while engaged in an activity like reading, socializing, watching television, playing video games, or using a mobile phone/computer for much of the day, in short no physical activity.

Physical inactivity affects our entire body, both inside and out. Not getting our recommended 30 minutes of exercise a day can lead to many disorders. When we say recommended 30 minutes of exercise , remember it is the minimum amount of locomotion we owe to our bodies in order for our bodies to function well.

Our bodies are designed to help us move and find means of survival, be it gathering food or shelter or be it about adapting to predatory or climatic threats.  All thanks to innovation and inventions for the comfortable life we live today.

But we have to remember to keep ourselves active as well, with changing patterns of work we do have transformed from hunting for food to working late hours in sitting somewhere at least for most of us. We are already aware of the negative health impacts this has on our health.

To name a few muscle atrophy, osteoporosis, blood clot, type 2 diabetes,  depression, a weakened immune system , constipation are the major ones. Sedentary lifestyle  causes much more catastrophic  effects in body deep within physiologically, the above mentioned diseases are just a special over view.

One of the most unnoticed negative health impact is our breathing pattern. Notice your breathing pattern while you re reading this article. And now try to think of how a baby, infant breathes. You'll notice that the infant takes deep breathes and most of us will take short, shallow breathes. 

When we are infants we take deep breadths because our lungs function to their best capacity, but along the line we loose this instinct. When we live a active lifestyle, say when we are involved in some kind of sports for example playing football, cricket or working out in the gym, we not only put our skeletal muscles to work but also the lungs.

This is debatable, one of the best ways to put your lungs to function at their best. Ofcourse most of us don't  get enough time for being able to be physically active , we have a fix for you and it is known as the 4-7-8 breathing technique. It also serves as a meditation which not only improves your physical health but also helps you relax mentally. It is widely recommended as immediate response for when people have anxiety or if someone suffers deppresion.

HOW TO :

To start with this, you have to inhale for 4 seconds through your nose with your mouth closed. Count four in your head. Next hold your breath for 7 seconds. If you find it tough to hold it for 7 seconds in the start, don’t stress yourself. With practice you will be able to do it. Next, exhale through your mouth while making a whoosh sound at the count of 8. Repeat this breathing process a minimum of 3 times and maybe more if you feel the need.

There various yoga asanas designed on similar bearthng techniques. There is no hard and fast rule, first you get your basics right, then you can eventually experiment and mix and match to according to your own individual needs. 

As it requires zero equipment, and can be done almost anywhere and at anytime, you can practice doing this while in office, while watching Netflix or hanging out with friends.