Breathing rate is the number of breaths you take in one minute. You can use breathing rate to know when your body is working and when it needs rest, as well as to tell what’s going on inside your body. You might want to monitor your breathing rate during exercise, meditation, or while sleeping. If you feel that your breathing is difficult or if it causes too much effort, it might be time to monitor yourself and see how fast you’re actually breathing. If you go too fast during certain activities, like sprinting or weightlifting, then this can lead to hyperventilation which will cause lightheadedness and a rise in blood pressure temporarily followed by a drop in blood pressure over time. Here are some ways how to monitor breathing rate.
i. Counting Breaths
The simplest way to monitor your breathing rate is by counting the number of breaths you take in one minute. Set a timer for one minute and then stop it when the minute is up. Once the timer stopped, count how many times your breath has gone in and out. Write down this number on a piece of paper.
The steps to follow are:
1) Set a timer for 1 min. 2) Stop the timer when 1 min passes 3) Count how many breaths you took in those 60 seconds 4) Repeat steps 1-3 twice or thrice a day to see if there’s an improvement or decline in your breathing rate and condition over time.
Breathing Rate:
The average breathing rate is around 12 breaths/minute.
ii. Posturing and Breathing Rate
Have you ever noticed that when you try to take a deep breath, you bend your back forward? For this reason, many people breathe with their chest instead of their stomach. If you do the same, try to keep your posture straight and check if your heartbeat becomes slower or faster. If it does, then this means that you are breathing too fast and there’s the risk of hyperventilation. Check out the following video which shows steps on how to monitor breathing rate using simple posturing (posture) :
Importance of Monitoring Breathing Rate
Don’t be too concerned about your breathing rate when you first start. This can take time to get used to. In some cases, after a week of practice or observing others who have a faster breathing rate than you, you might find it difficult to take deep breaths and your heart starts beating faster than usual. Then this is a sign that what you are doing might not be ideal for you. Finally, if your breath rate gets too slow or too fast and there’s a decline in your health, then it means that something is wrong and you should do something as soon as possible.
Monitoring your breathing rate is not that hard and there’s hardly any effort required to do so. Just make sure you are comfortable while doing it because if you are not, this can affect the results. Keep in mind that breathing rate only tells part of the story and putting everything together like knowing when to breathe and how to breathe for optimal health is what really matters.