Whenever you are feeling anxious or stressed, the first thing you are told to do is control your breath. There are many different breathing techniques that you can try, like yoga breathing practices like Ujjayi breath, alternate nostril breathing, and deep diaphragmatic breathing.

Diaphragmatic breathing, often called belly breathing, is a simple way to use your diaphragm muscle to breathe more effectively. The Cleveland Clinic explains that the diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle at the bottom of your lungs. When you inhale, it moves down, making space for your lungs to fill with air. Your belly pushes out as this happens. When you exhale, the diaphragm moves up, pushing the air out. This type of breathing is different from chest breathing, where only your chest moves. You can do this breathing technique anywhere, anytime, and no one will even notice. It's a great tool for calming down quickly.

Why Do You Need Breathing Exercises

The reason why this is the go-to response for stressed people is because when you are stressed, your breathing becomes fast paced. The Cleveland clinic explains that stress triggers a fight or flight response in your body. Your body goes into survival mode as it thinks it is in danger. Some symptoms of this include, racing heart rate and blood pressure increase, this means that you are breathing quickly and heavily in order to move nutrients and oxygen into important muscles of your body.

Benefits of Belly Breathing

Belly breathing has many good things about it. It helps calm your nervous system, which is important when you're stressed. It activates a nerve called the vagus nerve, which helps your body relax. When you breathe slowly, your heart rate also slows down, and your body feels less stressed. It helps you control your feelings, like anxiety and fear, so you can think more clearly. This kind of breathing also helps your lungs work better by taking in more oxygen. It can even help you sleep better because it calms your mind. By practicing regularly, you can feel calmer and more relaxed every day.

How to Practice Diaphragmatic Breathing

Certain conditions like Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) do make it difficult to work the diaphragm effectively. Your lungs rise and fall naturally, however with COPD air often becomes trapped in your lungs. Make sure you speak to a healthcare professional in case you are facing any difficulties while breathing.

To start, find a comfy spot. You can lie down with your knees bent or sit with your feet flat on the floor. Put one hand on your belly and the other on your chest. Now, breathe in deeply through your nose. Let your belly push out while your chest stays still. Hold your breath for a moment. Then, slowly breathe out through your nose or with your lips a little bit closed, letting your belly go back in. Do this four to six times, slowly and deeply. As you get better at it, you can do more breaths. Practice this every day, even when you're not feeling stressed, to feel calmer all the time.

By the time the workday ends, many of us have already spent 8-9 or even 10 hours sitting. We shift from the breakfast table to a desk, from a desk to a meeting room, and from a meeting room to the couch. Somewhere in between, our shoulders tighten, our neck starts to ache, and our lower back quietly protests. The irony? Humans were built to move, yet modern work often demands the opposite.

That's why, this International Yoga Day, wellness experts are drawing attention to a version of yoga that doesn't require a studio membership, expensive equipment, or even a yoga mat. It can happen between emails, during a coffee break, or while waiting for a video call to start. Desk yoga is less about perfect poses and more about breaking the body's 'sitting spell.'

A growing number of workplace wellness experts agree that people often think yoga only counts if they're doing a full session. But, in reality, even a few minutes of mindful movement can make a noticeable difference.

Here Are 10 Stretches Worth Working Into Your Day

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1. Start with a seated cat-cow stretch. Sitting upright, alternate between arching and rounding your back. It feels surprisingly good after staring at a screen for hours and helps wake up a stiff spine.
2. Next, give your neck some attention. A gentle neck stretch, where you lower one ear toward the shoulder, can ease the tension many people carry without realizing it.
3. The third one is a seated spinal twist because your spine gets the brunt of you being seated all day. It is another office-friendly move. All you have to do is rotate your body gently from side-to-side can greatly help in loosening up the back and improving mobility after staying in one position for long periods of time.
4. Then come the shoulders, the body part that is worked a lot in an office setting. A few slow shoulder rolls can release built-up tension and encourage better posture.
5. For those constantly typing, a wrist stretch can feel like instant relief. Extend one arm and gently pull back the fingers to counter repetitive movements from keyboards and touchpads.
6. A side stretch is particularly helpful when energy levels begin to dip. Reaching one arm overhead and bending sideways creates space through the torso and encourages deeper breathing.
7. One of the most underrated desk stretches is the chair pigeon pose. By crossing one ankle over the opposite knee while seated, you target tight hips and glutes, areas that often bear the brunt of prolonged sitting.
8. If space allows, try a seated forward fold. Leaning forward from the hips helps lengthen the back and provides a welcome break from being upright all day.
9. Don't overlook your feet and ankles. Simple ankle circles can improve circulation, especially during long stretches of uninterrupted desk work.
10. Finally, there's seated mountain pose. It may look like ordinary sitting, but done intentionally, with a tall spine, relaxed shoulders, and steady breathing, it becomes a reminder of how posture affects the way we feel.

What makes these movements effective isn't their complexity. In fact, it's the opposite. They are small enough to be repeated consistently. That's the lesson many yoga teachers emphasize every year: wellness isn't always found in grand gestures. Sometimes it's in the decision to stand up, stretch, breathe deeply, and reconnect with a body that's been patiently waiting for attention.

This International Yoga Day 2026, you don't have to roll out a mat or clear your schedule. Your desk, your chair, and five spare minutes may be enough to get started. And after a day spent sitting, your body will probably thank you for it.

As the FIFA World Cup 2026 is underway, players are navigating demanding training schedules, frequent travel, challenging weather conditions, and the pressure to perform at their peak. Amid these challenges, many elite footballers quietly face an often-overlooked problem off the field: sleep disturbances.

In an exclusive interview with HealthandMe, Dr. P.S.M. Chandran, former Director of Sports Medicine at the Sports Authority of India (SAI), said that the stress, anxiety, and disrupted routines associated with elite sport can make it difficult for players to get adequate rest. In some cases, these challenges may drive athletes toward sleeping medications, potentially affecting both their health and on-field performance.

Dr. Chandran, currently President of the Indian Federation of Sports Medicine (IFSM), said that while players may turn to sleeping pills as a quick solution, regular use can become a habit that leads to dependence if left unchecked.

Recently, striker Omar Bogle, who plays for Crewe Alexandra in League Two, shared his story with The New York Times' The Athletic about the moment last year when he became addicted to sleeping pills and painkillers.

What began as a way to help him sleep after suffering a back fracture during pre-season in the summer of 2024 became an addiction.

From January 2025, his usage accelerated to an alarming level. He said that many of the pills he was taking were benzodiazepines, such as diazepam and lorazepam. He was also using the stronger zopiclone pills, which the NHS says can be prescribed for the short-term treatment of severe insomnia.

"No one knew the extent of what I was doing," he said. "I never told anyone I was popping 18 or 19 of the things in the night."

Bogle's is not alone.

Also read: FIFA World Cup 2026: What Keeps Messi and Ronaldo Biologically Younger Than Their Age? Experts Explain

In January 2026, former England midfielder Jonjo Shelvey revealed on a podcast how he had become addicted to sleeping pills because of the loneliness he experienced while playing in Turkey. Shelvey said his dependence affected his relationship with his children.

Former Manchester United midfielder Darron Gibson also developed a sleeping pill addiction and, at his worst point, was taking 12 to 14 tablets a night, according to The New York Times.

In 2023, former Tottenham Hotspur and England midfielder Dele Alli told the BBC that he had become addicted to sleeping pills to block out past traumas.

According to Dr. Chandran, the issue is not unique to football but affects athletes across multiple sports, driven by stress, performance pressures, injuries, and demanding schedules.

"Football is not an exception," Dr. Chandran said. "Because of its popularity, we hear more about football players, but athletes in other sports face similar problems."

Why Elite Footballers Face Sleep Issues?

Elite footballers operate in a high-pressure environment where careers can be influenced by contracts, team selection, injuries, and performance expectations. Frequent travel, changing time zones, training camps, and irregular eating patterns can further disrupt normal sleep cycles.

According to Dr. Chandran, these factors create significant psychological stress, making it difficult for athletes to unwind and get adequate rest.

"Athletes are always stressed because of their contracts with clubs, their interaction with coaches, and concerns about injuries that can affect their income," he explained. "All these tensions bring stress, and stress leads to sleep disturbance."

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Why Athletes Turn to Sleeping Pills

Sleep plays a crucial role in athletic recovery. Without adequate rest, muscle repair, mental focus, and physical performance can suffer.

"If athletes do not get good sleep, the next day's training will suffer," Dr. Chandran said. "To get better sleep, they try sleeping pills. That becomes an escape route for them."

However, he warned that regular use of sleeping medications can quickly develop into dependence.

"Once they start taking sleeping pills, it becomes a habit. It is difficult to get out of it," he told HealthandMe.

The expert noted that while occasional use under medical supervision may be appropriate in certain situations, unsupervised and prolonged use can worsen sleep problems and lead to dependence.

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The Role of Stress Hormones

Stress hormones such as cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline are naturally involved in exercise and performance. However, elevated stress levels can interfere with healthy sleep patterns.

These hormones increase alertness, heart rate, and metabolic activity—responses that may be useful during competition but can make it difficult to fall asleep afterward.

Dr. Chandran emphasized that athletes should seek professional guidance when dealing with sleep issues rather than relying on self-medication.

Recovery Is Key to Performance

Modern sports science places a strong emphasis on recovery, recognizing it as an essential component of performance. Elite football clubs now employ teams of physiotherapists, psychologists, nutritionists, doctors, and recovery specialists to help athletes maintain optimal health.

"Training leads to tiredness, and tiredness has to be overcome by recovery methods," Dr. Chandran said. "The better you recover, the better you can perform the next day."

The FIFA World Cup 2026 has reignited debate about the longevity of two of football's greatest icons — Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Both are well beyond the age at which most footballers begin to decline, yet they continue to compete at the highest level of the sport.

Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is 41, while Argentina legend Lionel Messi will turn 39 later this month. Both will be playing in their sixth FIFA World Cup this year.

In an era when 30 was once considered the beginning of a player's twilight years, Messi and Ronaldo have helped redefine expectations, making it seem as though 40 is the new 30.

So what is the secret behind their remarkable longevity?

Experts point to a combination of disciplined nutrition, rigorous recovery routines, high-quality sleep, injury prevention strategies, genes, and years of consistent training that have helped slow biological aging and preserve elite athletic performance.

Speaking to HealthandMe, Dr. Prateek Kumar Gupta, Consultant Orthopaedics and Sports Surgeon at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, said exercise may be key to their longevity and agility.

“The exercise can condition and improve the cardiovascular system and musculoskeletal readiness, which optimizes body fitness and can reduce time-related decay in the system and may delay age-related changes to a certain extent,” Dr. Gupta said.

“After the age of 35, strict discipline for target-based training, routine exercise programs, good nutrition, and complete focus on the game are a few things that athletes do to maintain their peak performance,” he added.

Ronaldo's Biological Age Shocked Even Him

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The 41-year-old Portuguese forward is renowned for his meticulous fitness regime and attention to detail in both physical and mental preparation.

In 2025, fitness technology company WHOOP conducted physiological assessments and estimated Ronaldo's biological age at 28.9 years — more than a decade younger than his actual age.

While chronological age is determined by a person's birth date, biological age reflects the condition and performance of various systems in the body.

Upon learning of the result, Ronaldo expressed disbelief.

“I can't believe it's so good. 28.9,” he said, adding that he could continue playing professional football for another decade.

Ronaldo and Messi are not alone among older footballers competing at the highest level. Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, 40, is set to appear at a record sixth men's World Cup. Other players over 40 include Croatia's Luka Modrić, Germany's Manuel Neuer, and Bosnia and Herzegovina's Edin Džeko.

How Messi and Ronaldo Are Slowing Biological Aging

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Dr. Yacov Grossman, Deputy Chief Physiotherapist at Meuhedet, one of Israel's public healthcare maintenance organizations, outlined several factors that help explain the longevity of elite athletes such as Messi and Ronaldo.

• Fighting Age-Related Muscle Loss: Muscle strength naturally declines after the age of 30. To counter this, Messi and Ronaldo prioritize strength and resistance training, which is essential for maintaining muscle function with age.

• Maintaining Aerobic Fitness: While the body's ability to use oxygen and sustain peak cardiovascular performance gradually decreases after 30, Messi and Ronaldo preserve endurance with regular interval training.
• Prioritizing Recovery: Rather than training harder, both stars focus on sleep, nutrition, recovery therapies, and carefully managed workloads to stay fit and avoid injuries.

• Smart Energy Management: Experience has helped Messi and Ronaldo adapt their game. Instead of constantly running, they conserve energy and choose key moments to accelerate, allowing them to remain highly effective despite their age.