Stress is inevitable. From professional responsibilities to personal pressures, it is something we cannot evade. But according to integrative lifestyle expert Luke Coutinho, simple breathing techniques can help you manage stress more effectively and calm your mind in minutes.
Luke Coutinho recently posted a video on Instagram, sharing one out of three breathworks, which he claimed aids in reducing cortisol levels, aka the stress hormone. “Science clearly shows us that no matter how good your nutrition is, what quality supplements you are spending money on, how much fancy workouts you do, these are all important, but they are practically ineffective if you're sleep deprived and more than that, have chronic stress,” he said.
Nothing Can Undo Damage Caused By Stress
As per the lifestyle guru, an individual fails to have good sleep if they are chronically stressed. “There's no supplement, no superfood, no exercise that can undo the damage caused by chronic stress,” he stated.
Luke Coutinho added that over the last 14 years, every patient who came to him for treatment had one commonality: chronic stress. Even the fittest people were suffering from the ailment, he claimed. “Some of them have sleep deprivation, some of them don't. But chronic stress is the commonality,” he shared.
Breathing Exercises To Reduce Stress
On that note, Luke Coutinho revealed that 3 science-backed breathing techniques lowered cortisol immediately in less than 5 minutes. “Your problems outside may not change, but inside, if you drop cortisol quickly, that's when your environment changes. Your environment is what controls inflammation, a low immune system and everything else,” he stressed.
As per the lifestyle expert, the first breathing technique is known as 4-7-8.
4-7-8 Breathing Technique
You can either sit straight or lie down for this exercise. In the first step, inhale 4 seconds through your nostrils, hold for 7 seconds and then open your mouth to exhale with a “whoosh” sound in a controlled manner for 8 seconds. And that's about it.
Luke Coutinho explained that even 3-5 minutes of a 4-7-8 exercise can drop cortisol levels by almost 25 to 35 per cent, “changing the environment in your body.”
So, the next time you are feeling stressed, you know what to do.
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