The American Medical Association reports that 80% of diseases are stress related.
The lack of relaxation and peace of mind in the personal and collective consciousness of present-day society inhibits proper breathing. Poor breathing increases susceptibility to stress, with all its attendant illnesses. The body’s physiological response to stress, whether physical or psychological, is (among other things) to increase the breath rate.
Our sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system kicks in when we feel threatened or in danger. The purpose of this “fight or flight” is to protect us and to give us the energy to move or run from danger rather quickly. Sadly, many people are always in this state just doing normal day to day activities. These symptoms may be quite subtle so many times people do not even realize it. When our bodies are in constant “in danger” mode, the body and mind are under tremendous stress working hard to keep up. Shallow breathing is one of the most common symptoms to this constant state of stress. When we breathe in only the upper one third of the lung space it creates the feeling of overwhelm and anxiety. The lower two thirds of the lungs space is not utilized thus the air that gets packed down there becomes stale thus causing illness and disease. The muscles including the intercostals (muscles in-between the ribs) and the diaphragm atrophy thus becoming weak and cause disease.
Long deep breathing is complete efficient breathing using the body as it was made to be used. Try watching relaxed babies, animals, or people in less complex societies. It is not difficult: the lungs simply fill up and empty very completely.
As a Nuclear Medicine Technologist, I was in practice 28 years; most of that time specializing in Cardiac Medicine. I worked with patients of all ages ranging from 20-99. When I began my personal yoga and wellness practice, I started to notice a pattern among my patients. I followed many each year as they came in for a 6 month to a one-year checkup. I found that about 80% of my cases of heart related illnesses stemmed from lifestyle related habits and stressors. As it is people are feeling overwhelmed in life practice and then going to the doctor for cardiac related issues creates more stress mentally and physically. The most common symptom I found was shallow breathing. Shallow upper chest breathing with a faster breath rate leads to chronic tension and weak nerves, which set the scene for illnesses and fatal breakdown in one or another of the body systems.
Our sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system kicks in when we feel threatened or in danger. The purpose of this “fight or flight” is to protect us and to give us the energy to move or run from danger rather quickly. Sadly, many people are always in this state just doing normal day to day activities. These symptoms may be quite subtle so many times people do not even realize it. When our bodies are in constant “in danger” mode, the body and mind are under tremendous stress working hard to keep up. Shallow breathing is one of the most common symptoms to this constant state of stress. When we breathe in only the upper one third of the lung space it creates the feeling of overwhelm and anxiety. The lower two thirds of the lungs space is not utilized thus the air that gets packed down there becomes stale thus causing illness and disease. The muscles including the intercostals (muscles in-between the ribs) and the diaphragm atrophy thus becoming weak and cause disease.
As a clinician, I put IV catheters in patients so that I may inject the radioactive imaging agent to acquire diagnostic images of the heart. When a patient came in under mental and physical stress it was hard to find a vein to start a viable IV. Sometimes I would not even be able to palpate a vein to even begin the process. One of my best and secret weapons was to encourage the patient to take in a few full and long deep breaths and sometimes even hold their breath for a bit before I began. This technique not only helped those with anxiety of even being stuck with a needle to calm down but also gave me success to stick the patient successfully on the first try. Long deep breathing helps calm the nervous system down to a relaxed state and allows the blood to flow freely and oxygenates the entire body.
Visualize the inside of your refrigerator. Now think about all the food that is packed all the way in the back of the frig. Sometimes the things deep inside the frig is forgotten about because either we can no longer see it or because we choose not to dig deeper to see what is there and ends up molding. Now think about that molding food way back in the frig as if it is the air in the base of your lungs that you do not try to even expel because you are breathing in only the top one third of your lung space. Yup, I agree “gross” and gross it is! If the lower two thirds of lung space is not utilized the unused air will become stale and diseased.
Listed below are a few things of many of what the intentional practice of long deep breathing can do for you.
Benefits of Long Deep Breathing
· Relax and calm you
· This relaxation is of an active rather than a passive kind. It will re-tune and reset your brain so that correct decisions will flow automatically in a crisis.
· Filling of the lungs to capacity will feed your electro-magnetic field. Revitalizing and
Re-adjusting your magnetic field will make you less liable to fall victim to accidents, sickness, and negativity.
· It Pumps the spinal fluid to the brain, giving greater energy
· It Regulates the body's pH (acid/alkalinity), which affects your ability to handle a stressful situation
· It Reduces and prevents toxic buildup caused by not clearing the mucous linings of the small air sacs (alveoli) of the lungs
· It Stimulates the production of chemicals (endorphins) in the brain, which eliminate the tendency to depression.
· It Cleanses the blood
· It energizes, gives greater alertness and awareness due to the life force (the prana) in oxygen you breathe.
· It Gives clarity, cool-headedness, and positivity
· It Aids in releasing blockages in meridian energy flow
· It Activates and cleanses nerve channels
· It Aids in speeding up healing, emotional, and physical well being
· It Aids in breaking subconscious undesirable habit patterns and addictions
· It Reduces insecurity and fear
I encourage you to try a discovery call with me, a qualified Health and Wellness Coach, to see if I am the right fit for your journey to wellness. You may actually be surprised to find out how much potential and strength you actually have to reach your wellness goals. Sometimes we need that accountability partner to give us that last push of encouragement. Many times we know we “should” be doing something but just don’t. So what are you waiting for? Try a free 15 minute discovery call with me today to find out if I am the right fit for you. You have nothing to lose but perhaps a bit of stress.