We do this over 7 million times a year or approximately 20, 000 times a day. We don’t even notice for the most part, yet for most of us we do it incorrectly and it has a huge impact on our health.
Breathing…we take our first breath at birth. It is one of those absolutes in our life. Without the ability to breathe we cease to exist. Yet there are many people today who do not know how to breath. Just learning to breathe properly will improve your health and longevity.
Consider this:
- Science has proven that cancer is anaerobic – it does not survive in high levels of oxygen.
- Shortness of breath and heart disease are directly linked – the heart goes into spasm when it is deprived of oxygen.
- Studies have shown that there is a high correlation between high blood pressure and poor breathing.
- Most emotional issues, including breathing related anxiety and depression, result from the nervous system being out of balance. Breathing drives the nervous system.
- Optimal Breathing helps to promote weight loss. Oxygen burns fat and calories.
- Breathing well is the key to sleeping well and waking up feeling rested.
- Breathing provides 99% of your energy. Without energy, nothing works.
- Breath is life. Virtually every health condition and human activity is improved with Optimal Breathing.
Most adults do not use the bottom third of their lungs in the normal course of day to day life. There is nothing but stale air sitting at the bottom of those lungs. Stop what you are doing and do this easy exercise. Take in a long, slow breath that moves your diaphragm (your tummy is moving in and then out). Breathe in….deeply…see that your tummy has expanded to take in all that air…hold it for a count of 5 and then release it…all of it and see that your tummy has contracted. Do this exercise 3 times. That’s it! What you just have done is brought in new fresh oxygen into your entire lung cavity and removed the stale air stuck in the bottom of your lungs. You have also slowed yourself down and downregulated the production of fat storage stress hormones. Do this once a day, everyday for life and it will improve your health by helping you to de-stress and clear out the stale old air in your body.
One of the biggest and well known health issues related to breath in North America is Asthma. Statistically it is reported that almost 10% of the population in North America is impacted by this disease.
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asthma states that asthma is an inflammatory disease. There are many triggers that cause these instances of inflammation from pet dander to bonfire smoke and so on. The inflammation impedes the air passage and can have serious repercussions on the impacted individual.
While the evidence suggest there is no cure for Asthma and those affected must always take their medication, there are ways of lessening the occurrences and the severity.
Nutrition. What you put in your body has a direct impact on the inflammatory responses that are happening.
It is suggested that Mediterranean diet is one of most optimal diets for those who suffer from asthma. Eating a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids with extra virgin olive oil along with organic fruits and vegetables is a great way to start the process of reducing the inflammation within your air passages.
Taking a high quality nutritional supplement may be a prudent option as it is difficult to get the high level of antioxidants needed to quench the free radicals that are causing the inflammation in the first place.
Grape seed extract is a natural anti inflammatory that attacks the free radicals and minimizes inflammation throughout the body.
Regardless of any health condition the ability to breathe…deeply…will have a profound impact on your health. After my hip replacement surgery I found that these exercises helped me with handling the pain and I believe improved my recovery time.
The take home message today is to eat a diet high in antioxidants and essential fats to help reduce inflammation within the body. This may help to lesson the symptoms associated with asthma and any other inflammatory diseases. Take a high quality supplement to help increase the likelihood of getting the amount of antioxidants needed…………..and……..breathe!!!!
John OneHipGuy