Correct Breathing

2008-10-15 17:47:00

After reading in the "Diet Of Oxygen" someone asked about correct breathing. I will say a few words here as this is an important part of overall health.

As far as increasing oxygen available to our bodies breathing is definitely the number one thing we can do.

The interesting thing about breathing is that we do it right after we enter the world as babies, but as we mature we somehow learn to do it wrong and wrong breathing can have detrimental effects for the rest of our lives.

If you watch a baby breathe you will notice that its tummy will move up and down because he is breathing deeply enough to force air to the lower regions.

Then as the person matures he shifts his breathing center into the upper chest cavity winding up having to take more breaths and getting less oxygen.

We must switch back to the natural breathing with which we were born.

The first thing to do to see how well you are breathing is to count your breaths in a resting position. The average is about 16 breaths per minute, but if you are breathing right you will breath 6-8 breaths per minute. If you breathe more than this you are not breathing correctly.

To test yourself to see if you are a natural deep breather sit or stand upright and breath in as you normally do with both palms on your tummy just above your navel. If your tummy expands as you begin breathing in then you are on the right track. If you lay on your back and breath correctly you can see your tummy expand as you breath. If it does not expand then all your breath is going into your upper cavity which causes less oxygen to enter your system.

If you are breathing too many breaths per minute or breathing too shallow the first thing to do is to get a sense of what a deep breath is. Hold your tummy and breath deeply to the extent that you can feel your tummy expand. Keep doing this until you get a sense of how you need to breath to make this happen.

Once this is achieved do the following to achieve correct breathing:

For this exercise breath through your nose.

  1. Exhale completely. Most people do not completely exhale their dead air. Concentrate on making a full exhale to prepare yourself for maximum oxygenation.
  2. Inhale to the count of five. For the first two seconds concentrate on deep breathing. Your stomach should be expanding during this period.

During counts 3 and 4 concentrate on filling up the chest cavity.

During the fifth and final second breath deep again and you should see your stomach expand a bit more.

  1. Hold the breath to the count of two.
  2. Exhale to the count of five.
  3. Repeat for a couple minutes.

Do this exercise for a few weeks and you will find that your natural breathing will change. You will naturally breath deeper and when you find that good breathing has gone below the threshold of consciousness you can then quit doing the exercises regularly. Do check yourself once in a while though to maker sure you do not slip back into your old routine.

  

"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."
  -- Genesis 2:7