Life

5 Remarkable Importance Of Correct Breathing: Different Breathing Techniques

January 9, 2022 by Dikshi Gupta

It is quite astonishing to know that something as simple as breathing is one of the key elements that keeps us alive and well. It is an involuntary exercise that we do subconsciously and is one of the most basic functions of the human body. However, this basic function is a gigantic regulator of our mental and physical health.

There are much more benefits of proper breathing than we realize. Although many people do not know that while it is a subconscious practice that we do roughly 17,000 to 30,000 times a day, we might not be doing it right.

There are different kinds of proper breathing techniques known to increase fitness and well-being. Breathing techniques are an excellent option for people who can not practice vigorous exercising daily. Jump into the bandwagon to find more about deep breathing exercises and their benefits to the human body.

The process behind breathing

Before we guide you to correct breathing techniques, you first need to understand how the process of breathing works. When you inhale air or “Breathe,” the diaphragm in your body shrinks and moves downwards. This, in turn, gives the lungs extra room to expand and store oxidized air into its air sacs.

Then, The oxygen gets transferred into the bloodstream, and the air sacs store carbon-di-oxide from the bloodstream simultaneously. And then, the unwanted carbon-di-oxide gets expelled from the body as you exhale.

Different breathing techniques

Correct breathing increases oxygen levels in your blood, improving your digestion and keeping the stomach healthy. These exercises also help strengthen your abdominal muscles and provide higher energy levels. Here are some breathing exercises that can help you achieve a healthy and fit lifestyle.

1. Deep breathing

Deep breathing is a basic pranayama exercise that helps you stay healthy for various reasons. Deep breathing is known to increase oxygen levels in the body exponentially and helps keep the stress levels low. It helps prevent shortness of breath and allows more intake of fresh air.

Sit comfortably with your legs crossed and back supported.
Take a deep breath through your nose and allow your chest to expand.
Hold your breath for a few seconds.
Slowly breathe out through your nose.

2. Diaphragm breathing

More often than not, many people breathe with the top of their chest. However, according to many professionals and fitness professionals, using your diaphragm for breathing will give you the most results. Especially while working out, practicing correct breathing techniques like diaphragm breathing can boost your energy levels and workout performance.

Lie on your back comfortably with your knees bent and put your head on a pillow (you can also put a pillow under your knees).
Place one hand on your chest and another on your stomach, allowing you to sense your diaphragm move as you breathe.
Breathe in through your nose slowly and feel your hand pressing into your stomach while keeping the other hand perfectly still.
Exhale through your mouth while tightening your stomach muscles, keeping your upper hand perfectly still.

3. Blowing out candles

Blowing out candles is another proper breathing exercise and is also one of the most popular breathing techniques. This exercise is a great way to keep your stomach in shape and your belly toned. It is a great technique that moves your abs from a neutral position to a concave position. The steps to practice this breathing technique are simple.

Take a deep breath through your nose.
Breathe out forcefully as if you are blowing out candles.

Benefits of proper breathing

1. Reduced stress and anxiety

How you breathe is directly correlated with how you feel, your emotions, and stress levels. The connection between mind and body is still a mystery and still baffles medical experts to this day.

However, with many scientific studies, we now know that correct breathing techniques can lead to a calm mind and even uplift your emotions. This is why the essential thing to do while having anxiety or stress is to “take a deep breath.”

2. Good posture

It seems far-fetched but, correct breathing also helps facilitate a good posture. When we breathe with our chest instead of our abdomen, the neck and shoulder muscles are the ones that are doing most of the work, resulting in bad posture. Not to mention today’s hectic lifestyle, making the situation worse. Deep breathing exercises require us to sit in a comfortable upright position. And, continuous practice of these exercises can help in better posture.

3. Better physical health and performance

Correct breathing is a turning factor in sports and athletics. Whether running, boxing, or football, every sport requires exceptional stamina, endurance, health. Proper deep breathing allows the body to inhale more air at a time and enhances the oxygen percentage in the body. It allows the muscles to have an abundance of oxygen and perform much better.

4. Better sleep

As we know, correct breathing regulates optimal bodily functions, reduces stress, and helps in maintaining the heartbeat. All of these factors lead to a better and improved sleep cycle. Stress and blood pressure problems are some of the major reasons for diseases like insomnia. Proper breathing calms the mind and releases tension which improves your sleep.

4. Improves cognitive skills

A study found out that mindful breathing enables the brain to release more endorphins, creating a sense of calm and natural well-being. This, in turn, enhances the cognitive capabilities of the individual and improves concentration and focus. It allows the brain to grasp new concepts quickly and makes learning easy.

Every organ in our bodies relies on oxygen. From digestion to neural functions, every process needs the exchange of oxygen and carbon-di-oxide to function properly. Correct breathing can allow a greater sense of mental clarity, help you sleep better, facilitate digestion, enhance your immune system, and reduce anxiety levels.

You can learn more about breathing and practice from a pool of breathing techniques with our Joyscore app. Download the app to have your guide for your meditation and fitness goals.

5 Awesome Benefits Of A Gratitude Journal

November 30, 2021 by Varsha Kariya

Being grateful for all you have will change your perspective on life and improve your relationships with those around you. It will also help those around you feel appreciated and acknowledged and will receive more from others. Studies have found that those who practice gratitude lead happier lives and are less susceptible to depression.

Gratitude journals can help you focus on the positive aspects of life and live a happier life by recording what you are grateful for. This journal is a great tool to use in your self-development plan.

What is gratitude, and what is its role in your behavior?

Gratitude can be defined as an acknowledgment of the receipt of benefits. The benefits can be tangible, like money or gifts, or intangible, like sympathy and attention. The most important benefit of Gratitude is the depiction of love.

Gratitude is a virtue. It makes people feel better about themselves, helps them connect with others, and strengthens their social ties. Gratitude also helps people achieve their goals by encouraging them to think positively, expect good things to happen in the future, and set specific goals.

The journal of gratitude is an effective tool that can help you improve your behavior. This journal will help you develop the habit of being grateful in all aspects of your life. You have to write down all the things you are thankful for every day. The more you practice gratitude journaling, the more your life will change positively.

What is a gratitude journal?

A gratitude journal is a tool that helps you to practice gratitude. Gratitude is a sentiment that focuses on the good things in life and can improve your emotional wellbeing. It can strengthen your relationships, help you cope with stress, and make you feel better about yourself.

A gratitude journal is a notebook where you write down what you are grateful for each day. Studies suggest that writing down what you are grateful for increases happiness. If you make it a habit to write down what you are grateful for, it can help to improve your wellbeing and have a positive impact on your life.

A gratitude journal, also known as a thankfulness journal or appreciation journal, is a daily journal that provides space for the user to write about the things they are thankful for. It is distinct from other journals in this respect, as it asks the user to focus on the positive aspects of their life rather than cataloging issues and concerns.

How to Maintain a gratitude journal

Some people are naturally more inclined to express their appreciation for what they have in their lives, but others need a little bit of help getting started. That’s where a gratitude journal comes in handy. A simple notebook or diary with room for you to write down something you’re thankful for each day can help remind you what’s important in your life.

What are the benefits of a gratitude journal?

1. You will gain a new perspective of life

A gratitude journal is a powerful tool that can create a shift in your life and change your perspective.

To begin with, it helps you to focus on what matters. It’s just as the name suggests – you’re writing down everything that you’re grateful for. You can write anything from your health and family to success and wealth. Anything that makes you happy and that you feel good about.

2. You will become more self-aware

Writing in a gratitude journal is one of the best ways to become more self-aware and bring more happiness into your life. Gratitude journals help you focus on the positive things that happen every day, even when the rest of your life seems chaotic and out of control.

You can write anything without judgment. You’ll be reminded of the many things in your life to be thankful for. You’ll be more self-aware. You’ll have an increased sense of appreciation for everything in your life.

3. It reduces stress and makes you healthy

The study found that people who kept gratitude journals were more optimistic and felt better about their lives. They also exercised more and visited the doctor less than those who didn’t keep one. And it only took 10 minutes a day to reap the benefits.

A person who regularly makes time to write down what they’re thankful for is more likely to be happy, healthy, and fulfilled than someone who doesn’t.

Gratitude Journal helps us to stop taking things for granted, appreciate what we have right now, forgive others, and most importantly, appreciate our loved ones.

4. It increases the positivity in life

Maintaining a gratitude journal is an easy way to make sure you are always thinking about the positive aspects of your life. Some people write their gratitude journals before bed or just before they go to sleep. They then reflect on the positive things that have happened during the day and write them down in their gratitude journal. Others prefer to write down 3 to 5 things they are grateful for each morning when they first wake up. By doing this, they ensure that they remember to think about the good things in their lives throughout their day.

5. It makes you happier

Gratitude does not only change you. It changes the world around you. Gratitude unlocks compassion and connection and fosters co-creation. It makes you happier and healthier and helps you live longer.

Gratitude improves your mood. It makes you happier. The more grateful you are, the more you appreciate all of the good things in your life, even the little ones. That boosts your overall happiness level.

Another great thing about this type of journal is that it’s extremely easy to use. All you need to do is, choose a notebook or journal that feels right to you personally and then start listing all the things that make you happy. You can write down as little or as much as you want – whether it’s just one thing every day or something bigger and more significant once a week or month – it’s entirely up to you.

If you really want to make a difference in your life, try a gratitude journal.
–It’s Simple
–It’s Powerful
–It’s Free
–It Works
–It’s Easy
–You’ve Got Nothing To Lose
–You’ve Got Everything To Gain!

Download the Joyscore app to know more about the importance of Gratitude in life.

Gratitude… The flip side of fear

June 1, 2020 by Bob Singhal

The world feels like it’s been turned upside down overnight during these challenging times of coronavirus pandemic. One can often feel like a black cloud casting a dark shadow over our lives. The feelings of stress and fear make it easy to be thankless towards life. When it is hard to feel grateful, it perhaps becomes more important than ever to focus on Gratitude — the conscious effort to be thankful and acknowledge everything you have in life. Gratitude shifts our focus from what life lacks to the abundance that is already present.

The benefits of practicing Gratitude are wide-ranging. Famous psychologist Robert Emmons of the University of California at Davis researched Gratitude and its effects. In his book “Thanks!: How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier”, he highlighted numerous benefits of practicing Gratitude. He indicated that practicing daily gratitude results in higher levels of enthusiasm, will power, self-confidence, and energy. It enhances one’s personal as well as societal well-being.

Gratitude is a strong emotion; it is a magic pill that reduces tension, depression, anger, and boosts your energy levels, improves your mood, and helps you sleep better. People who are thankful for little things in life are optimistic, stress-free, and have high immunity levels as compared to people under stress. Another study conducted by Robert Emmons indicated that grateful people take better care of themselves and engage in more protective health behaviors like regular exercise, a healthy diet, regular physical examinations, which makes them lead a happy life.

So, if you practice Gratitude, especially during this pandemic, you can gain various benefits. I am not trying to advocate to express Gratitude instead of emotions of anxiety, fear, or confusion, which you might be currently experiencing. I am just helping to look for ways for yourself to gain confidence and practice self-care.

Following are a few simple ways to practice Gratitude daily:

Start by taking a few moments to recognize all those things that are going well in your life.
Feel a sense of abundance in your life.
Appreciate the contributions of others in your life.
Enjoy life’s small pleasures and blessings.

Initially, it might be that these attitudes do not come to you naturally. Initially, these attitudes may not come to you naturally, but, therefore, deliberately paying attention to these positive attitudes the positives you can train yourself to see more and more of them. It will make you realize that you have most of what you need and a lot of what you want in life. You have people to love you, food to eat, a bed to sleep in, and a roof over your head and so on.

Try to relax and sit down to list your Joys. Make this a regular habit, set aside a few minutes each day to purposely practice Gratitude, and you will feel a change. I must say: Go ahead, try it out right now.

What or who do you have in your life to be thankful for? I am sure your list will not end soon.

Tips to Fall Asleep Naturally

December 4, 2019 by Jennifer Ka

Here are ways to fall asleep naturally:

1. Applying oil to the foot soles is one way to induce sleep according to Ayurveda. It grounds the person and also alleviate psychological imbalances since negative emotions can accumulate at the soles of the feet.

2. Drink a cup of warm milk or almond milk before bed. Warm milk can promote healthy tissues, balance the nervous system, and prepare the body to sleep.

3. Eat a small meal three hours before bedtime. Dinner time should actually be the smallest meal of the day and should be eaten 3 hours before you sleep so it has time to digest. Something warm like hot soup will sit well in the tummy and won’t be heavy before bedtime.

4. Turn off electronics one hour before bed. Have a detox break from your phone and television to give your eyes and body some rest from stimulation. Too much stimulation can cause a lot of stress to the system and lead to unrestful sleep.

5. Build a sleeping routine. Having regular sleeping patterns will naturally signal the body to know when to sleep. Sleeping before 10 PM and waking up before sunrise is ideal for optimum health.

6. Try a guided meditation or yoga nidra before bed. Yoga nidra takes one into deep rest that can be even better than sleep! It helps activate the relaxation response and can improve the function of our endocrine & nervous system.

Prevent and implement new habits so nothing can steal away your beauty sleep! During sleep the whole body is rejuvenated and recharged. If it cannot recharge your batteries will go low and you will eventually burn out. Make proper sleep a much needed priority on your list.

Watch the SneakPeek of JoyScore Visualization Meditation.

These are the Things you Should Take Care of Before 2020

September 27, 2019 by Marcela De Vivo

Not to alarm you, but 2020 is less than 100 days away.

Where are you on your resolutions list? Savings plan? Business endeavors?

Regardless of what you had in mind for 2019, with one quarter left, there’s still plenty of time to get things done. This is a great time to wrap things up and start new tasks. And there are several things that need to be done by the end of the year.

Here are some things that we should all have in order before starting a new decade:

Spend your FSA If you have a flexible spending account at work, now is the time to spend the money. These funds typically expire at the end of December.
Get your health in order Make sure you get in your yearly checkups with your primary care doctor, optometrist, and dentist
Clean your space Don’t limit your closet purging and mass cleanings to the spring time. Now is the perfect time to declutter and optimize your space.
Check in on your credit We are all entitled to a free credit report every year. If you haven’t gotten yours yet this year, its time to get that taken care of.
Sort out your donations If you haven’t made your donations to your favorite charity yet, you’ll want to do that soon. You only have a few months left to donate and still be able to claim them when filing your 2019 taxes.
Get your taxes ready Speaking of filing taxes, take this opportunity to start prepping for the tax season. Make your future self’s life a little easier by organizing your receipts and financial documents now.
Dust off that goals list Remember the things you wanted to get done this year? Well if you haven’t already, now is the time to do them.

If you want to make the most of 2020, make sure you close up any loose ends these last few months of 2019. Completing these tasks will ensure that you start off this next decade calmly and confidently.

How Successful People Make the Most of Their Weekend

September 5, 2019 by Marcela De Vivo

With the weekend fast approaching, its time to take a look at how we will spend our time. Though many of us look forward to it all week, are we truly taking the time to make the most out of our weekend?

To help move you in the right direction, below is a list of ways in which highly successful people spend their weekend

They unplug you aren’t doing yourself any favors by staying connected to your device 24/7. The weekend is a great time to unplug. If you manage a team, this is a perfect opportunity to empower your team to make decisions without you. If you are a part of a team, now is the time to establish healthy boundaries.

They volunteer There is nothing more rewarding than making a difference in the world around you. Helping those in need helps you keep things in perspective and studies show that people who volunteer in their local communities feel more personal growth and well-being.

They explore hobbies Pursuing your hobbies is important for your overall well-being. Whether it’s a sport or an art, cultivating your hobbies can help you unwind, create and foster friendships, and improve your overall happiness in life.

They spend time with family and friends Sometimes our weeks are so busy and routine-infused that we don’t have time to have quality, unstructured time with our loved ones. The weekend is the perfect time to reconnect with family and friends. This could be sharing a meal or going on an outing, or having a long phone conversation with a faraway friend.

They stay active There are many physical and emotional benefits that come along with an active lifestyle. Though a long week makes it tempting to lay on the couch all weekend, you’ll feel better and more fulfilled if you incorporate physical activity into your plans.

On Saturday, fight the urge to binge-watch the next show on your Netflix queue, and head outside. You never know what creative or personal breakthrough may happen through constructive use of your downtime.