Can Breathwork Help Your Allergies?

There’s almost nothing more irritating than watery, itchy eyes due to allergies, as the 50 million people in the U.S. who struggle with allergies can tell you. It turns out. Research says that breathing exercises might be just what the doctor ordered.

This is no surprise to us here at GR8NESS, since we’ve written about how to breathe your stress away and how breathing can decrease your body’s inflammation. However, if you are wondering how you are supposed to breathe when you can’t breathe due to allergies, read on.

How Does Breathwork Help?

You will probably have to take it slowly and ease your way into breathwork for allergies, especially if you are new to it. Most of them require some rhythmic inhaling and exhaling that may make you feel various sensations. But, regularly breathing deeply will strengthen your lungs and help keep them open. And it can transform your health in general.

This study, conducted on patients with bronchial asthma, showed that doing breathwork exercises twice a day for 20 minutes resulted in a significant reduction of symptoms similar to those of allergies.

Breathing Techniques to Reduce Allergies

At first, it may seem awkward or weird to do breathwork when your nose is stuffed up. If you are familiar with different yoga styles, you may be familiar with some of the breathwork on this list.

Suggested breathwork techniques to relieve allergies:

Alternate Nostril Breathing – sit or stand with your spine in alignment. Take a deep breath through one nostril at a time and exhaling through the other one. Alternate and repeat.

Deep Belly Breathing – breathing in and out through the nose, drawing the breath deep into your belly, hold for a few counts, and exhale. You can do this lying down, sitting, or standing.

Ujjayi Breath – inhale and exhale through your nose, dragging the breath along the back of your throat so that it creates a hissing sound. Make each inhale as long as each exhale. Breath a little deeper with each breath until your breathing is long and smooth.

Give It a Try Next Time You Have Allergy Symptoms

The next time you or a loved one is suffering from allergies, give breathing exercises a try. Learning new breathing techniques could have additional benefits, such as easing stress. If you need help finding your breathing groove, this quiz can help. It takes only a few minutes out of your day to do breathwork, and the benefits may amaze you. Begin by focusing on breathing deeply into your belly and start counting your breaths.

A Note from GR8NESS

While we think that breathwork can help alleviate allergy symptoms, they should be considered complementary to any treatment recommended by your physician, not a replacement. Do not try breathwork before consulting with your healthcare professional to see if it is right for you.