Did you ever stop to think about your breath? The physiological mechanisms that make up a single breath could fill an entire book. And yet, for an event that recurs an average of 25,938 times a day, we generally pay very little attention to our breathing.
Did you know that…
- 60% of our metabolic and toxic waste is released from the breath in the form of carbon dioxide, 20% from sweat and 10% from each of our eliminatory organs.
- Breathing circulates the lymph fluid
- Breathing harmonizes the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system which slows down the aging process.
- We take 25,938 breaths per day / an average of 18 breaths per minute.
- Our lungs have a capacity of 6 liters but can only hold 5 liters of air.
- How many breaths do you take in a day that fill your lungs?
The first function of the breath is physical. Once the physiological needs are met by our breathing, it can start to fulfill its functions on an emotional, mental and spiritual levels. But what happens when we do not breathe deeply enough to meet the basic needs? It’s simple, the eliminatory functions of the breath do not get met and we find ourselves accumulating stress, tensions and toxins. Once the toxins start to accumulate, the body goes into damage control mode, trying to address the overload and never getting to reach the full extent of what the breath was intended to do.
Try taking four or five deep breaths from time to time throughout the day. Be aware of when you hold your breath or stop it from flowing fully and freely and simply let go and let the breath do its work. When you start to pay attention to your breath and breathe more deeply, you may start to notice that in certain places, your breath feels blocked. You may also notice that deep breathing brings up emotions or insights into yourself. Do not be alarmed. This is not an illness, the breath is simply performing its purifying functions on the psyche. I will write more about that in my next post. Until then, take care and breath deeply!
Stay tuned
Stay tuned for next week’s installment in our breathwork series.
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