Getting the Most from Each Breath
Breathing…. This is something that our bodies take care of that we don’t need to concern ourselves about, right? I mean, if you are reading this you are obviously breathing, so why worry about it? Yes, obviously you are breathing, but is your body getting the MOST out of the breath for the effort it is using? That is the focus of this blog… getting the most out of each breath that we take.
If you watch an infant breathe, their belly expands and contracts with each breath. However, watch an adult breathe, and I will bet you that their chest is what is moving rather than their abdomen - which is NOT a change that should happen as we grow. Throughout life we should breathe from our abdomen (aka - diaphragmatic breathing). However, as we age, many people end up getting in the habit of taking very shallow breaths (aka – chest or clavicular breathing).
You may ask: What is the difference? It’s still breathing and we are still alive so what is the big deal? Good question. The “big deal” is that there are MANY benefits of diaphragmatic breathing. I will focus on three today.
Benefit #1:
From a physical standpoint: Diaphragmatic breathing allows oxygen to fill a larger portion of your lungs than chest or clavicular breathing. This allows much more oxygen to reach the lower portion of your lungs. This area of the lungs has an increased rate of blood flow to it (one-and-a-half liters versus only one-tenth of a liter from the upper third of the lung). This allows for increased absorption of oxygen into the bloodstream, and therefore, takes less of an effort for your cardiovascular system to provide a fresh supply of oxygenated blood to all areas of your body.
Benefit #2:
From an emotional standpoint: Diaphragmatic breathing also slows the breathing rate, which tends to have calming effects. Diaphragmatic breathing is even often recommended as a method to use when a person is experiencing stress or anxiety as a way to calm them.
Benefit #3:
From an energetic standpoint: Diaphragmatic breathing, especially when completed in specific patterns of breaths and retention cycles (known as Pranic Breathing) is a powerful way to bring fresh energy (aka prana) into your body and exhale or release used energy. Consistently using these Pranic Breathing patterns elevates the benefit of diaphragmatic breathing to another level by clearing and strengthening the energy system while you simply breathe.
So, by simply using diaphragmatic breathing we benefit our physical, emotional, and energetic systems by simply making our breathing work more for our wellbeing. Wow, that is what I call multitasking! Talk about a relatively small change that can lead to big results!!