How Proper Breathing Benefits Our Lives

Breathing should come as natural as breathing, shouldn't it? Often it isn't the case, and not just for people who have conditions that affect breathing such as asthma or emphysema. Many of us can and do breathe without thinking, and for the most part it gets us through our days. We take 20,000 breaths each day, using 20 different muscles for each one. Using the wrong muscles to breathe on a regular basis can restrict oxygen intake, cause cell malfunction and lead to disease. By not paying attention and breathing properly we miss out on many benefits that come from proper oxygen intake, and put ourselves at risk for a number of ailments, including cancer, heart disease, and nervous system issues.

But breathing properly can potentially have many positive effects as well. For example, cancer cells are anaerobic, and can't survive high levels of oxygen. Optimal breathing also can help with weight loss, anxiety, depression, better sleep, and overall energy.

Generally, there are two types of breathing; diaphragm (abdominal) breathing and chest breathing. Evolutionarily speaking, diaphragm breathing should be our default when we go to take a breath. The diaphragm is a sheet of muscle at the base of the ribcage. When it contracts, the thoracic cavity expands and provides the space the lungs need for a full breath or air. When this function is compromised, lung capacity decreases and less oxygen is taken in.

With chest breathing, the chest expands with or without the use of the diaphragm. Chest expansion occurs through the contraction of multiple muscles that lift the ribcage, and is only supposed to happen during strenuous activity, and those muscled are easily overworked. However, the diaphragm muscle is more durable and is designed to handle the constant repetition of breathing.

Chest expansion breathing is often a response to the fight or flight stress response. Our bodies think we are fleeing from danger, and with the stress of our daily lives it doesn't differentiate between real danger and normal stress. This encourages a habit of breathing through the chest rather than the diaphragm. Chest breathing is inefficient because the greatest amount of blood flow occurs in the lower lobes of the lungs, areas that have limited air expansion in chest breathers. Rapid, shallow, chest breathing results in less oxygen transfer to the blood and subsequent poor delivery of nutrients to the tissues.

Too much time sitting and poor nutrition can also inhibit proper breathing. A hunched posture and restricts the diaphragm from functioning properly. and unhealthy processed foods provoke intestinal inflammation which inhibits the diaphragm and triggers chest expansion to compensate.

But how do you know if you are a diaphragm breather or a chest breather?

In order to assess your breathing technique, lie on your back with a light object on your stomach. The object should rise as you inhale and lower as you exhale, and you should be able to take a full breath without expanding your chest. If this is difficult, and you find your chest moving too much you could probably use some practice utilizing your diaphragm.

While practicing, it's best to breathe in through your nose and exhale through your mouth. When you are breathing in through your nose, imagine you are sucking in all the air from the room. Do this for a count of seven. Exhale slowly for a count of eight seconds. Do this a total of five times, and try for a rate of one breath every ten seconds. If you're not used to it, proper breathing can seem a bit cumbersome, but the more you take time to practice proper technique the better you will feel, and the easier the breathing exercises will become. Before you know it, it will all just come naturally.

Breathing.com

Natural Bias

Amsa