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Breathing Exercises for Asthma Patients
by Tom Alter
In the normal breathing pattern the diaphragm moves downward when the person
inhales and moves upward when the person exhales. An asthma patient breathes in
an unnatural way by using only the upper portion of the chest. This is very
unnatural for the system as the full chest is not used in this way.
Over the period of time the patient develops weakness of chest muscles as the
muscles are not being used properly. At the time of an attack the chest muscles
work extra hard as they work against constricted air passages. It is advisable
for the asthma patients to do breathing exercises as they can really help build
up the chest muscles involved in respiration and can contribute towards saving a
person's life at the time of an attack.
The aim of breathing exercises is to relax the chest muscles that are
overworked. And to teach a person to get out of the habit of using the chest
muscles for breathing and start using the abdominal muscles and the diaphragm.
For learning the proper use of diaphragm and lower chest the asthma patient has
to start concentrating on breathing out rather than breathing in.
The chest has to be completely emptied by raising the diaphragm by voluntary
contraction of the abdominal muscles and lower chest. This process if practiced
regularly is actually against the situation that happens during an attack. By
doing this exercise a person tries to achieve the reversal of the condition of
asthmatic attack. By regular practice the body learns to imitate this condition
and the muscles try to come in this situation by involuntary action.
Care should be taken that the breathing out process has to be a slow process and
not a hasty one otherwise it may lead to wheezing and discomfort. For doing the
breathing exercises correctly the person may need to be retrained to push out
the abdomen and concentrate the mental energies on doing this. This initiates
the lower chest breathing and the muscles get used to it after a while.
In the ancient practice of yoga there is a system of breathing exercises which
is known as pranayama. The word pranayama is derived from the word 'prana',
which means vital oxygen. In broader terms the word prana indicates towards the
life that is visible in all the vital activities of a living being. Prana is the
life force that remains in action till the time a living being is alive.
It is of utmost importance for the human being to keep the vital prana active
and rejuvenated at any point in time for complete health, vitality and
longevity. Pranayama is a science for keeping this vital life force hail and
hearty. Pranayama involves a lot of breathing exercises.
There are many different types of exercises and this is a science that can be
learnt either by the help of a guru, which is most preferable, or alternately in
the occasion of non - availability of a guru, it can also be learnt by the help
of books and literature available on the subject. Pranayama is a form of
exercises that can give immense vitality to the system and is known to
practically recover and rejuvenate a person from any kind of ailment. This goes
to prove the power of these forms of exercises.
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