Sounds easy right? But what if you are doing it wrong?
Modern lifestyle, hectic routines, and pollution have affected the way we breathe. To achieve total wellness, you need to provide your body with the required amount of oxygen through optimal breathing. Optimal breathing can help in maintaining the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, which results in a significant impact on the physiological processes of the body.
“Breathe in deeply to bring your mind home to your body.” -Thich Nhat Hanh
Breathing is probably the most important element of human life. We may live a few weeks without food and a few days without water, but living a few minutes without air is not possible. Most of us would be in deep trouble without air after a few minutes. Breathing sounds like something that we do effortlessly. It comes naturally to us that even when we are not aware of it, we keep breathing.
Although, when we look into it scientifically, it sounds complicated. Our nervous system functions in a way that keeps oxygen and carbon dioxide in our body moving in and out of our bloodstream through the lungs. This process keeps going on without us being consciously aware of it, let alone putting any effort.
This seems like something that we should be good at, right? However, there is much more to it than just letting our bodies do it and trusting our bodies to do it correctly. Just breathing is not enough. We neglect the importance of proper breathing. Very few people practice proper breathing daily. The benefits of proper breathing are worthwhile. There are different breathing techniques that you can apply to your daily life for optimal health. But first, let’s understand why you need to be educated on breathing.
A Breath of Fresh Air
You must be wondering why you must be educated on something as simple as breathing. After all, it is something that you can do without giving much of a thought. On earth, your first breath marks the beginning of your life, and it is your last breath that marks the end of it. Between these two, you take several breaths that determine the quality of your life and health. But the problem is that today, in this era, most of us do not breathe properly and give our body enough of what is required due to several factors. Several health problems are related to incorrect breathing. These health problems include but are not limited to cardiovascular problems, muscles, skeletal dysfunctions, and visceral (internal organs) disorders, among many others. These are some of the biggest health problems that people have today. It is said that poor breathing plays a role in about 75% of the diseases that individuals have to see their doctors to treat.
When you are in quest of the improvement of your overall quality of health, breathing is the best thing to start. In scientific terms, it is called respiration, which is a process of the oxygen intake and release of carbon dioxide. It is the most important element of our survival. There is probably nothing more important than breathing that you can do to survive. It is your body’s number one priority. You can understand its significance by knowing that your brain is designed in a way that it functions by sacrificing anything to ensure that respiration takes place in your body.
An average person takes well over 20,000 breaths per day. Just imagine doing anything pathologically 20,000 times per day. The point is that if you keep doing something incorrectly, that too repeatedly, you are sure to face some physical or mental problems. This is why it is important to learn the importance of breathing properly. You can make a significant and positive change in your health and get a far better result than just sticking to the traditional gym exercises.
In the next post we will discuss what actually defines "optimal breathing" and what it can do for your weight loss or stress reduction efforts......