The Importance of Breath

DATA:

  •  The average person breathes between 18,000 – 20,000 breaths per day.
  •  Totals an average of 5,000 gallons of air.
  •  In weight, this is 35 times as much as we take in from food and water.
  •  70% of toxins are eliminated during the breathing process. Only a small % of toxins are eliminated through perspiration, defecation and urination.
  •  90% of the nutrition needed by the body comes from the oxygen we breathe. Only 10% comes from the food we eat and without sufficient oxygen, we will not get proper nutrition from our food. Oxygen is the fuel that burns our food.

BASIC LIFE FUNCTIONS:

  •  We can go 10-14 days without food, 4 days without liquids, hours without heat but only 4 minutes without air before brain damage occurs.
  •  Air is the most quickly distributed element in the body as air is immediately enters the bloodstream as oxygen must be constantly supplied to each and every cell.
  •  Each breath nourishes and feeds the circulatory system.
  •  Deeper breathing enhances cellular activity and therefore our very strength.
  •  Without the breath we could not speak.
  •  We need oxygen for our brains to think and metabolize our food.

TRANSFORMING POTENTIAL – Breathing is the key ingredient in physical emotional and mental health. It unifies and integrates the body, mind, and spirit

Benefits of Integrative Breath Work!

  •  Burns up and eliminates toxins from the blood stream
  •  Releases toxins stored in the tissues of the body
  •  Lowers blood pressure and increases circulation.
  •  Boosts the immune system
  •  Improves digestion and reduces stress on liver and kidney
  •  Purges the body and brain of chemicals, detoxifies the body at a cellular level.
  •  Enhances libido in both sexes
  •  Reduces physical and emotional stress
  •  Returns the body from acidic system (breeding ground for disease) to alkaline system (normal chemical state).
  •  Naturally increases the life force energy and vitality
  •  Increases mental charity
  •  Creates new Nero-pathways in the brain.
  •  Expands consciousness/ awareness

Breathing is a grossly underestimated source of life-giving, healing and purifying energy. When we breathe in a relaxed fashion we move from a destructive metabolic state to a constructive one. This shift from operating in chronic stress mode to a mode of relaxed alertness can affect the synthesis of protein, fat and carbohydrates, increase the production of cells for immune system activation, promote bone repair and growth, as well as enhance the cellular, hormonal and psychological process.

The Problems

Poor diaphragmatic breathing is caused by a tensing of the belly during breathing so that the diaphragm does not move freely. The problem is that at the top of the lungs, the rate of blood flow is one tenth of a liter per minute. Only a few ounces of blood are moving through the top of your lungs every minute while at the bottom of the lungs the blood flow is well over a liter per minute. Most of the blood circulation is in the bottom third of the lungs. If your belly is tense, then you cannot breathe down to where the blood is. Just increasing your ability to breath fully, you will make major improvements in your physical, mental and emotional functions.

Health Benefits

  •  By increasing the volume of each inhale by 5%, you would increase the benefits of breathing by 1,000 fold (based on the 20,000). This would immediately benefit anyone suffering from lung diseases or in need of respiration therapy.
  •  Beneficial for Asthmatics as they tend to breathe high into the chest where there is less blood circulation reducing the amount of oxygen available to the body. Learning to breathe fully reduces anxiety related to the condition.
  •  Pain management – Can be reduced and even relieved. Example, childbirth, headaches. Breathe into the pain instead of resisting it and it can be transformed into an intense sensation.
  •  Heart Attack – 2 groups in Holland were studied. 1 group was taught simple diaphragmatic breathing because most heart attack patients are chest breathers. They tend to keep their abdominal muscles tight forcing the breath high up in the chest. The second group was given no training in breathing. The first group had no further heart attacks while 7 out of the 12 from the second group of had second heart attacks. Another study done in a Coronary Care unit Minneapolis hospital examined 153 heart attack patients to determine the breathing patterns (deep belly or tight chest breathing). The study found that ALL of the patients were chest breathers.
  •  About exercise – during athletic activities, more air is taken in but does not perform the same function as breath work. Exercise burns up oxygen as soon as it comes into the body. The energy does not get down to the deeper parts where the real work takes place. During breath work you remain still and allow the energy generated by the oxygen to penetrate to those areas most in need of it.

Emotional Benefits

Breath work can dissolve unresolved emotions stored in the mind and body. During the process of growing up and also in daily life we have not been skilled enough to deal with our feelings in effective ways. Feelings that are not handled immediately are stored as muscle tension or in the unfinished business files in the mind. Watch children and how they hold their breath when in the grip of pain or some other unpleasant emotion. The habit often stays with us unless someone gives us a better alternative. If we can learn to breathe in a free inhibited way, the stored feelings can be released from the body and mind.

Breathing is a metaphor for all of life. Think of a full inhalation and exhalation as giving and receiving. Think of a deep in-breath as your willingness to experience life fully. Think of a full outbreath as your willingness to express yourself completely. Our feelings are blocked on the in-breath and the outbreath.