Not that we want to add to your list of new year's resolutions, but if we could just suggest one more it would be to take a breath. Yes, really. While the average person breathes in and out more than 23000 times a day, the majority of those breaths (especially when you're awake) are short, shallow ones that just reach the chest."Everyone makes themselves so stressed out by trying to do everything and be perfect, and never is this more apparent than in January," said Rebecca Dennis from the UK's Breathing Tree, which teaches better breathing for the stressed out."If we just breathe better, everything else will fall into place. And what's great about proper, deep breathing is that it's free, easy, you can do it anywhere, and it improves everything from your stress levels to your heart health and digestion. Plus, it makes you more energised and productive - and it's anti-ageing, too."But can all these benefits really come from something we do instinctively anyway?"If you look at babies, they take big, beautiful, connective breaths that fill their bellies with air causing them to expand, and then flatten when they breathe out. Children breathe this way too."But by adulthood, we become too busy to breathe properly - we take short, shallow breaths that fill our chests, but not our bellies."Dennis said the effects of all these half-breaths include raised heart rate, tension in the shoulders and jaw, digestive problems, anxiety, as well as higher levels of the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline, which can lead to sleep problems and exhaustion.London-based holistic facialist Annee de Mamiel says she can always tell by a client's face whether they breathe properly."When you 'panic breathe', often your cells don't get the oxygen they need to function properly. Toxins build up and the skin on the face begins to age prematurely."To take a proper breath, De Mamiel says you should place your hand on your abdomen and breathe in deeply through your nose - not your mouth - so your abdomen expands and rises.Hold for a few seconds and then release the breath, breathing out through your nose or mouth until your abdomen flattens once more. Do this once or twice, or as many times as you need to feel calm...