The Breath of Life

Sit back and take a deep breath. Feel the air flowing from your nostrils to your brain and all the way to your feet. Push it deep into every cell in you body and then relax and let the breath go; exhale. Feel all the used air leaving your body climbing up your throat and out through you mouth. Repeat the process multiple times and you will suddenly feel calmer, more balanced and poised. However, what happens when we take a breath? Why a simple thing as “taking a breath” can affect our lives and cause massive changes? And how?

To say that the breath is important is an understatement, as virtually every health condition and human activity is improved with optimal breathing! Breathing is our body’s mechanism for supplying over 99% of our entire oxygen need for fueling our cells and activating our body. However, with our current rushed style of life, poor breathing became the prevalent habit adopted by most. To put it simply, the levels of Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide are in imbalance in our bodies.  This phenomena can cause/ or worsen the below (this list only covers few of the diseases):

• asthma
• allergies
• anxiety/depression (nervous system out of balance)
• heart conditions/high blood pressure (heart goes into spasm when deprived of oxygen)
• Insomnia
• obesity (oxygen burns calories fat and calories)
• Increases symptoms of PTSD

The average person reaches peak respiratory function and lung capacity in their mid 20’s. Then slowly over time, respiratory capacity (meaning expansion of the lungs), begins to decline between 10% and 27% for every decade of life. Anxiety and lack of awareness and practice causes this decline. However, looking at the Brightside, regardless of your age, you can always improve the function of your respiratory system.

The number of people that are suffering from “Panic Attacks” has been increasing year after year, especially with the young population. The physical demands that the society is imposing on the individual and the individual’s need to abide has lessened his/her own stand and literally affected his/her breathing pattern. We suddenly are now experiencing “shallow breath” syndrome as if we don’t have time to even breathe anymore. This precipitates and then perpetuates heightened anxiety and lessens the overall optimization of bodily functions.  

Proper breathing is the pathway to more energy, and a better outlook on life. Proper diet, improved external environment, and internal cleansing, do need to be addressed as well. However breathing is for many the primary method for becoming vibrant and maintaining our health!

So Breathe away! And Breath Deep! Let’s all start every day with a deep rich breath and expel all the unneeded elements out of our bodies. Let’s start improving our own systems, let’s regain control of who we truly are.

Breathing Practice:

In the ancient practice of Qi Gong, we learn the importance of the breath and it’s relationship to healthy organs and balanced emotions. Below is a simple exercise that you can perform daily:

Start by sitting on a chair. Have your body posture straight and feet flat on the floor. Have your hands on your naval. Close your eyes and imagine a blue star above your head (about 6 inches). Now bring yourself to the oceanside and imagine standing on the beach barefoot. Imagine an earth star beneath your feet. See it very deep down, in the centre of the earth.

Before you take your next breath in, push your tummy out
( like a contraction outward) and breathe in through the naval and nose. Move the breath up to the Blue Star above your crown. (Many people report difficulty doing this, as the air seems to get trapped in the throat area or throat chakra...practice helps!) Attempt to breathe past your throat by raising your chin slightly upwards.

Now hold your breath for 2 counts and then breathe out slowly with  your mouth open and feel the breath moving down your body, through the soles of your feet and see it move down to the earth star in the centre of the Earth (this is very grounding)

Repeat And practice this several times a day. Over time you will automatically breathe in this way! ‘Practice makes energy’