Take a moment and breathe — your posture will thank you

Morning North7:19Wellness Column - the benefits of mindful breathing

Take a second and think about your breathing. Is it shallow or deep? The CBC's Jan Lakes met up with Yoga instructor Jennifer Dodd of the YMCA to find out some of the ways breathing can help your health.

Taking a moment to think about your breathing can help you relax, sleep better and even detox the body, according to yoga instructor Jennifer Dodd.

When we are stressed, you can see it in the way a person holds their body.

"You can tell it in their shoulders, you can tell it in their whole demeanor if they are not breathing right," she said.

"I tell them, grab a sticky note and write 'breathe' on it. Stick it everywhere you are going to see — on your rearview mirror, on your mirror in the morning, on your pots and pans."

Taking a few moments to concentrate on your breath is important, she continued. It can regulate your body's rhythms. All you need to do is breathe in to three counts and breathe out for three counts.

Also, concentrate on breathing into your stomach, Dodd said.

"When you watch a baby breathe, you actually see them breathe into their tummies, we are so shallow a lot of time in our [breathing] and when we are stressed. Breathe in nice, beautiful oxygen and breathe out the toxins," she said.

"You don't breath you die" and often when we are stressed out we don't breath, we are just so tense and our lungs become small, Dodd added.

Mindful breathing will help you relax so you can feel where the tension is and where you need to release.