Did you know that the way we breathe can have a huge impact on how we feel and perform?
Nearly all of our body functions and mental states are impacted by this process. An essential part of caring for our physical and mental condition means learning how to breathe effectively.
Tips from a top breathwork and meditation coach can show you how to control your health with a smartwatch and bring your well-being to the next level.
When done in the right way, breathing helps us cope with stress and manages our stress levels with flying colors so that we can slow down a bit. What is crucial is to perform this activity consciously. Get to know key breathing tips from renowned breathwork and meditation coach, Martin Petrus, to achieve maximum results in stress and health management, along with the appropriate tools such as smartwatches from the Huawei Watch family.
Managing your energy levels
Optimizing breathing can be a way of improving the whole process of energy production in the body. Certain breathing techniques can work like an espresso shot – instantly increasing our heart rate and improving blood circulation.
“During the day it is good to take a break to do a few slow and deep breaths. Focusing on the inhalation, making it bigger than the exhalation, will have an energizing effect. You can also briefly pause at the top of the inhale when the lungs are full. This method should be only used very briefly – if we continue to breathe deeply for a longer period, we might start feeling dizzy”, advises Martin Petrus.
What is SpO2?
What make us function efficiently? The right levels of oxygen (O2) in the blood, and consequently our blood oxygen saturation (SpO2). For a healthy person, it typically falls between 95 and 100% measured at sea level. Observing our oxygen saturation can not only be interesting, but it can give valuable insights into how our body is performing. A lower than usual SpO2 is not a reason to panic but could be an indication to investigate further. Decreased SpO2 can result in hypoxia – a state when tissue has lower oxygen levels. This could cause symptoms like increased heart rate, shortness of breath, sweating, headache, chest pain, or even confusion. How to control it? With the support of every Huawei Watch you are able to perform automatic measurements at specified intervals. And with Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro and Huawei Watch Fit, its user can have a constant SpO2 level monitoring 24/7.
Activate your breathing awareness
One of the measurements for general fitness is VO2Max. What is it? The amount of oxygen absorbed during one minute of maximum effort. As an assessment, it is commonly used to determine the endurance levels of athletes. High VO2Max can not only help in sports, but can also increases longevity.
“Physical exercise, especially aerobic training, can raise our ability to utilize oxygen, but it can also be done with breathwork. Studies have shown that breath-holding techniques can improve VO2Max, even in highly trained individuals”, says Petrus.
Checking the VO2Max level is possible thanks to Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro and its professional data. Its consumption measurement reflects cardiorespiratory fitness and endurance capacity in exercise performance.
Handling stress
Without question, stress is a big factor in our lives. In a short burst, it can be stimulating, but chronically it can have a dramatic impact on our health. What does it depend on? The circumstances and dose. Chronic stress can even lead to dysfunctions in the body. When we are constantly agitated, the body does not have time for recovery and regeneration.
An ideal situation would be to have short periods of effort and alertness, but with a proper recovery period afterwards. There is a close relationship between our breathing and stress levels. Our autonomic nervous system has two main modes of operation – the sympathetic, which shifts our body into actions, and the parasympathetic, which brings in relaxation. These two modes regulate the majority of our bodily functions, from sight and hearing to heart rate and digestion. Breathing can be a simple way of regulating our nervous system and increasing resilience.
“Shifting from stress to relaxation requires a bit of effort, and this is where breathing comes in handy. The first thing is to focus on the exhale, because this phase of the breath is considered to be more relaxing. We can pay attention to a long and smooth exhale, and at the same time focus on relaxing the whole body. We can also consciously reduce our breathing rate. Slowing down the inhalation and exhalation to 5-6 seconds is one of the simplest things we can do to move into the parasympathetic state”, explains Martin Petrus.
Day-to-day stress control with Huawei Health app
Any time that we feel stressed, the easiest solution is to get control of our breath, slow the rate down, and the rest of our physiology will follow. From the fear of public speaking to even more extreme situations like panic attacks, we can train ourselves to use our breath to shift our state. Breathing can also have a great impact on our sex life, helping to connect with the body and intensifying physical sensations.
Stress levels rise in many everyday situations. In order to control it, it is worth monitoring the most important health statistics available in Huawei Health app – available on Android and iOS. Keep an easy-to-access record of your all-day stress tracking, heart rate, blood oxygen levels, blood pressure, sleep quality, step count and more. All your data is shown in clear, dynamic graphs to always keep you informed, easily and quickly.
About Martin Petrus, Breathwork and Meditation Coach
After meeting Wim Hof, Martin was inspired to learn more about the benefits of breathing patterns to manage both mental and emotional states. He has extended this learning to incorporate respiratory physiology, as developed by Patrick McKeown, the founder of Oxygen Advantage. Using Integrative Breathwork, Martin continually researches how people can benefit from both a scientific and spiritual approach. Martin runs regular workshops where he focuses on mindset training using breathwork and cold exposure. He also coaches athletes with modern hypoxic training methods and traditional Pranayama techniques.
Using Integrative Breathwork, Martin continually researches how people can benefit from both a scientific and spiritual approach. Martin runs regular workshops where he focuses on mindset training using breathwork and cold exposure. He also coaches athletes with modern hypoxic training methods and traditional Pranayama techniques.
About Huawei Consumer Business Group
Huawei’s products and services are available in more than 170 countries and are used by a third of the world’s population. Fourteen R&D centers have been set up in the United States, Germany, Sweden, Russia, India and China. Huawei Consumer BG is one of Huawei’s three business units and covers smartphones, PC and tablets, wearables and cloud services, etc. Huawei’s global network is built on almost 30 years of expertise in the telecom industry and is dedicated to delivering the latest technological advances to consumers around the world.
For more information please visit: https://consumer.Huawei.com/ca/
For regular updates on Huawei Consumer BG, follow us on:
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Google+.
