How is your asthma now? If you do nothing it will likely stay just as it is. However, if you put in some effort and follow the poses and techniques shown on the cheat sheet below, you will see improvement for every week and month of effort that you put in.
The cheat sheet includes 6 yoga poses to stretch out your chest muscles, making it easier for your chest to expand, and 2 breathing techniques that will help to strengthen your breathing muscles. These two methods will help you to improve your asthma, but if you want to take it to the next level, then there is a third method that you may consider: Breathing Resistance Training for Asthma.
Recommended Length and Frequency
In our previous research, we found that stretching for 30 seconds per muscle, 3-7 times per week is roughly optimal. You can do them all for 60 seconds if you prefer, but you’ll benefit only slightly more than 30 seconds. The breathing techniques can benefit from more than 30 seconds though, 5 minutes or even 15 minutes is still worth the effort.
Yoga Poses (~5 minutes)
Follow poses 1 through 6 in the image above. Poses 1 and 2 overlap however, so you only really need to do one of those.
- Locked Hand Raising Pose
- Sun Salutations
- Hare Pose
- Camel Pose
- Double Angle Pose
- Fish Pose
Yoga Breathing Techniques (~10 minutes)
Do both breathing techniques from the image above.
- Abdominal Breathing (place your hand on your stomach to check if you’re doing it right)
- Alternate Nostril Breathing
Conclusion
Think about it: you can do nothing for your asthma or you can do something. This cheat sheet gives you a good structure to regularly follow to improve your asthma. Combine the plan with a good yoga mat or soft surface for comfort and you’re ready to get started.
