Breath is the best medicine

We need oxygen to survive, and without enough of it, our brain and all our organs cannot function properly and our cells will begin to die.

By Emily Rack

Learning to breathe properly is essential for our health and wellbeing, breathing regulates our heart rate, influences the release of chemicals into the blood stream, removes toxins from the body and helps us to metabolise food and waste. 

The reality is nearly all of us do not breathe properly and don’t even know how to; it is just assumed that because breathing is an automatic function it does not need any real consideration.

The truth is overlooking the way you are breathing could be interfering with your health and happiness in a really big way, overtime the implications of poor breathing can be pretty scary, poor or latent breathing impacts every part of your body and can even lead to longer term health problems like organ damage and even stroke.

What Went Wrong?

Sitting down for long periods of time, poor posture, social habits and emotional stress all impact the way we breathe. Poor breathing habits inhibit our ability to relax which means; we cannot digest food properly, our cells can’t repair themselves, we feel tired, cranky and anxious, we get sick more often and eat more sugar. All of this loops back on itself to create a vicious cycle where poor respiration leads to poor health and bad habits.

Babies Breath

When we are little we know how to breathe correctly. If you have ever watched a baby breathing when they are sleeping you will notice their whole body shifts into a rhythmic pattern; you see on the inhalation the whole belly rises and on exhalation the whole belly falls. This is the natural rhythm of breathing and it fills the whole body with oxygen.

By the time out kids reach school age, proper breathing shifts from deep and rhythmic to short and shallow. It happens for a few different reasons which include; sitting down too much, social stigmas to hold the tummy in and the mimicking of behaviour from peers and parents. It also does not help that nearly all the adults in the world seem stressed and wound up.

The New Epidemic

We now know that poor breathing is a significant factor in exacerbating or even triggering anxiety and panic attacks. Short shallow breathing stimulates parts of the body and brain to function in a primitive way and holds you in a state of suspended anxiety.

Short shallow breathing is activating a part of your nervous system that keeps you alert, uptight and ready for the approach of any predators of threats. This means your body is constantly leaking adrenalin and other stimulants into your blood and brain, and like all steroids; will overtime corrode your bones and tissues. So there it is, poor breathing habits can really make you sick, and cortisol leakage is just the tip of the iceberg.

Better Late Than Never

The good news is, you have the ultimate tool to avoid these potential health problems, and is it right under your nose. Just by learning the art of better breathing you can significantly improve your health and wellbeing by; helping your organs to function properly, lowering your blood pressure and giving the body the help it needs to restore and repair itself naturally. When you breathe properly you will have more energy, sleep more peacefully, feel happier, get smarter and live longer.

It is time to know What To Do

1. Sit up straight

2. Roll your shoulders back and down

3. Close your mouth and take a long deep breath in through your nose and exhale slowly.

Did you notice a difference?
Sitting up straight helps give space to your lungs and diaphragm which helps to increase the depth of your breathing, it also stimulates the brain making you more alert; breathing through the nose increases oxygen levels in the body and stimulates the brain, slowly exhaling lowers the heart rate and stimulates a relaxation response in your body helping you to relax and reset.

The more often you put into practice  the art of deep breathing the better you become at it, paying attention to your breathing helps to focus the mind and can be used as a tool for deep relaxation and mediation.

This article and the attachments are a general guide to better health and wellbeing.
This article and the attached content is not intended to replace medical advice.
If you are suffering from anxiety, depression or poor health we strongly advise you seek medical attention.
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