Do You Even Breathe?!
One of the simplest ways to improve health right this moment is absolutely free! Breathe deeply to increase oxygen intake, relieve stress, cleanse the body of toxins, improve digestion, alkalize your blood and much more.
What’s wrong with how I breathe now?
Without the practice of conscious breathing, you may be unaware that you are, in a way, suffocating yourself throughout your unconscious breathing habits. With shallow, frequent and anxious breathing, there is not enough oxygen provided for the optimal performance of all of your cellular activity. Breathing too shallow and rapidly can cause an imbalanced pH condition by stimulating the nervous system to release too many stress hormones. This can also cause the body to become oxygen deprived and leave excessive amounts of carbon dioxide in the blood, leading to an overly acidic state.
What is the correct way to breathe?
There are many different ways to practice breathing techniques. From professional singers and horn instrument musicians to Yoga, Tia Chi, Qigong and other Eastern martial arts, many teachers acknowledge that proper breathing is paramount to personal performance. I encourage you to study them and practice daily for your optimal health and wellness. You may be surprised to find out how poor your breathing patterns have become and actually feel a type of post exercise soreness within your core at your diaphragm after the first few exercises.
“Hypo-gastric” breathing means breathing below your stomach and bowels. This is a misnomer because the lowest parts of your lungs end before your stomach begins. But this does help us visualize and perform optimal breathing. By focusing on pulling the air deep in your core below your belly button, this will ensure the maximum use of all of the lung tissue while distending your digestive organs out of the way to allow more room. This also allows you access to your energy core. According to Eastern thought, breathing is the primary way we bring energy into the body. We extract energy from the breath and store it in the lower abdomen, and the more we can extract and store, the better our physical condition.
Practice conscious breathing right now:
I invite you to practice deep; full breaths that fill the lower part of your lungs. Don’t be afraid of letting your belly hang out at first, but with practice, you should be able to pull a full breath without exaggerating this motion. Count to four slowly as you inhale, pause for four, and exhale for a count of four. When you exhale, imagine pushing the energy from your lungs into the lower abdomen about four fingers below the navel and about 2 inches deep into your core. If you’re in good condition, you may feel something right away. If not, with practice you soon will. You may feel a tingling sensation in your abdomen or lower back, or heat, or a pleasantly springy feeling in the abdomen, as though pushing on a shock absorber. You may also feel the spine relaxing and small movements with cavitation and popping or clicking taking place in the bones and muscles, similar to when you receive a Chiropractic Adjustment. Your physical body is releasing tension and stabilizing itself into optimal health. The position of body structures relative to each other are falling into alignment. This is a gradual process, like training a new skill, but each time you’ll be able to benefit more with less effort and less focus – it will become natural.
Practice often! Practice conscious breathing just a few minutes of this each morning, night, during a workout, while driving or at stoplights, or while practicing EFT tapping technique. As you become a pro, you will be able to passively and subconsciously pull more successful breaths throughout your typical daily routine which will have a profound impact on your overall health.
Breathe easy,
Kelly Baltuska, DC
