Why Proper Breathing is so important for a low stress life?Proper Breathing: Count Your Breaths!Once, when I was a child, my grandfather called me over and asked me to count the number of times I breathed in one minute. It came out to be around 15. On the other hand, he breathed 6 to 7 times in a minute. I was amazed at this difference. He said, 'Son, we are born with our quota of breathes. The slower you breathe, the longer you live!' I remember his advice to this date and also the fact that he went on to live well into his nineties. I also remember that his breathing was very smooth and relaxed. He was an emotionally stable and calm person. That the quality of our life hinges on proper breathing was acknowledged by ancient Indian Yogis (knowledgeable persons), who developed an entire branch of Yoga, known as Pranayama, around breathing techniques. How could it be otherwise, when oxygen is so important for our survival! We can live without food, and even water for a few days, but we cannot live without oxygen for more than a few minutes. The brain requires it the most. Otto Warburg won Nobel Prize twice, for proving that cancer cells cannot survive in an oxygen rich environment. Oxygen feeds the blood, which supplies food to all the parts of the body – the limbs, nose, eyes, tissues, ligaments, bones, etc. Proper breathing ensures proper supply of food and improper or shallow breathing means inadequate supply of vital ingredients to various parts of the body. Breathing out, or exhalation, is also a part of the breathing process. The body releases 70% of the toxins through breathing, while only 30% toxins are discharged through other processes like defecation, urination, sweating, etc. It doubles the importance of correct breathing – shallow breathing leads to accumulated toxins and waste products in your body. This creates pains and discomfort – un-explainable body aches, headaches-- completely avoidable causes of stress. When all it takes is deep and proper breathing, why then we adopt breathing habits that cause pain and ill health? Improper Breathing And Stress
You breathe 6 to 8 times in a minute when you breathe deeply; the breathing rate increases to 20 breathes a minute when breathing gets shallow. It puts more strain on your lungs and your heart- the two main organs directly linked to breathing. Negative emotions, like stress, anxiety, anger and fear which are an integral part of our lives, cause shallow and quick breathing. Prolonged periods of stress make our lungs inflexible and slowly we are incapable of breathing deeply. Lack of exercise and sedentary life-style, requirement to sit for long hours, adopting faulty body postures make our breathing shallow. Then there is pollution—both indoors and outdoors. The body habitually adopts shallow breathing to avoid taking more air than is absolutely necessary. Are you breathing properly? Take Free Breathing Tests to know more. Harmful Affects of Shallow Breathing
Your immune system becomes weak, and you are more susceptible to diseases. You start catching cold easily, and also become vulnerable to other ailments floating in your environment.Lack of supply can even cause cancer in those body parts where supply of oxygen has reduced drastically. In the absence of proper breathing, inadequate supply of oxygen to heart makes it week, you may develop hypertension or some other heart condition. If you suffer from high blood pressure, try to observe if it is due to shallow breathing. Just adopting deep and proper breathing can bring your blood pressure back to normal! Research has shown that lack of oxygen is one of the main causes of heart ailments. Lack of supply of oxygen to the brain might make you thinking less clear, and make you indecisive, confused and forgetful. The person might even become nervous and senile. Remember, brain is quickly affected by disturbances in the supply of oxygen. Proper Breathing Reduces StressJust take a deep breath and note how relaxed your body becomes, how cam your mind gets. Of course, just breathing deeply will not melt away your worries and tensions, but it will definitely make your body and your mind better equipped to deal with the stress, think clearly, arrive at solutions and make plans rationally. Isn't it what we really want? Breathe optimally...and get the most out of your life. Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again! – L. Frank Baum Further Reading Deep Breathing For Stress Relief. Diaphragmatic Breathing: The Correct Way To Breathe Three Part Breathing Exercise – Deerga Swasa The Relaxation Response: A Perfect Antidote to Stress Meditation:Stress Relief Through Awareness Top 10 relaxation CD, DVDs, tapes and MP3 downloads Meditation: Stress Relief Through Awareness How Does Stress Affect a Person....How It Affects You? Back to HOME from Why Proper Breathing is so important
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