How to keep your lungs healthy naturally

Healthy lungs are easy to maintain. Improving lung function and keeping it healthy for life can be accomplished if:
 

• Avoid smoking
• Get away from second-hand smoke, environmental irritants,
• Consume foods rich in antioxidants
• Get vaccinations (flu and pneumonia vaccine)
• Regular exercise like yoga more frequently
• Focus and improve indoor quality of air.

It is not difficult to maintain healthy lungs. Healthy lungs can be accomplished with these steps.

1. Diaphragmatic Breathing

Diaphragmatic breathing, or deep breathing is breathing that is done by contracting the diaphragm, a muscle located horizontally between the thoracic cavity and abdominal cavity. Air enters the lungs; the chest expands and the belly rises with this type of breathing. Diaphragmatic breathing technique can be used for people who are experiencing lung problems related to asthma, emphysema and chronic bronchitis, as well as healthy individuals. It indicates that by concentrating on lowering the diaphragm when inhaling allows a person to get a deeper breath – a technique used by professional singers to increase their lung capacity.

Simple deep breathing can help lungs achieve it full capacity. Slowly inhale to consciously expand your belly while letting the diaphragm to lower. Expand your chest to allow air to fill your lungs. Following this, exhale as much as possible by letting the chest return to normal position. Finally expel the last bit of air by bringing in the stomach muscles. This way the lungs can expand and contract, giving it exercise while letting the blood be saturated with oxygen.

Another way to increase lung capacity is by increasing the length of inhalations and exhalations. First, count how long a natural breath takes. If it takes to the count of five to inhale, then it should take five counts to exhale. Once the average count of the breath is understood, add an extra inhalation and exhalation until you one can comfortably extend the length of time it takes to fill and empty your lungs. The whole process should not make you uncomfortable or put any kind of strain on your lungs. Please consult a pulmonologist if you experience any pain in or any strain on your lungs.

A slouched figure always puts stress on the lungs, as the lungs are soft structures, and they only take up the room that you make for them. A simple technique to give more room for the lungs is leaning back slightly in a stable chair, lifting the chest and expanding the chest as you breathe deeply. This way the lungs can expand to accommodate more air and get more space.

Lungs have mucosal lining that need water to help keep it thin. Drinking at least 8 glasses of water helps maintain the thinness of the mucosal lining. As with rest of the body, staying well hydrated helps keep the mucosal lining thinner, thus performing better.

Laughter provides longer exhalations, thus expelling residual air from the lungs and enriching the blood with ample supplies of oxygen. As one breathes deeply during a hearty laugh, lungs are saturated with oxygenated blood, you may cough, sputter or spit phlegm, due to loosening up of mucus in your respiratory system and getting a good fresh cleaning.

Regular exercise keeps the lung muscles active and healthy. As with the rest of the body, daily activity of 30 mins helps smooth functioning of the lungs.