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You do it up to 22,000 times a day but most of us spend our entire lives breathing the wrong way, which can have some surprising negative effects on our health. Science shows that proper breathing can help ease an overstressed mind as well as play a big role in averting or alleviating heart disease, allergies, and weight gain. "Breathing is so simple – and free! People can't believe it works as a healing and preventative tool," says Herbert Benson, M.D. and director emeritus of Boston's Benson-Henry Institute for Mind-Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Today, a breathing tip to alleviate stress. The average person takes about 15 breaths per minute but when you're anxious, people tend to limit their breaths. If you're feeling stressed , aim for six or seven slow, deep ones. A technique suggested by James S. Gordon, M.D. founder and director of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington D.C., involves inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth, while keeping your stomach relaxed. To help yourself focus, slowly say the word 'soft' in your head while inhaling, and speak the word 'belly' as you breathe out. This technique can stimulate your vagus nerve, a central part of the parasympathetic nervous system, which runs through your abdomen and chest, and back to your brain stem.