Archive for the ‘Breathing’ Category

Whenever I start with a new client I talk about four basic principles. First is breathing, second is meditation, third is nutrition and fourth is exercise, and not necessarily in that order.

As I read Chunyi Lin, who has a master’s degree in holistic healing and a certified International Qigong Master, he is saying that these four principles are the four basic elements to qigong.

Chunyi Lin says breathing is the most important and following the proper breathing technique helps to restore health and vitality.

Most people breathe at a resting rate of 12 to 20 breaths a minute. Dr. Greg Plotnikoff told me the ideal is eight breaths a minute for a resting rate. Shallow breathing only fills about 60 percent of your lung capacity. Taking just 15 minutes a day (longer is better) you begin to improve your health. Practicing slow, deep breathing everyday will help your body relax more and relieve your body’s negative reactions to stress.

Are you stressed out at times? Take slow deep breaths that fill your lungs for 15 minutes a day and see how it improves your life.

      1.      When our immune system is strong, we have few colds or infections and our energy level is high.

2.      When we use positive thinking, meditation, and prayer and have a strong family support system, we are much more effective at warding off disease.

3.      The trillions of cells which make up our body for the most part live only a few weeks and then are replaced. Some organs like the brain and the heart replace their cells about every three months.

4.      Free radicals are produced when oxygen and glucose produce energy.

5.      Exposure to the sun produces free radicals.

6.      Radiation therapy to treat cancer depends on free radicals generated by the radiation to kill the cancer cells.

7.      Between the ages of twenty and seventy, maximum breathing capacity declines approximately 40 percent.

8.      The average life of an American born today is 77.9 years.

(Facts taken from the book The Longevity Factor, Dr. Joseph Maroon)

As we age we see a loss of organ reserve, not only do our muscles get weaker, many other factors play in as well as our bodies seem to grow old. But the biggest factor contributing to the deterioration of our body is nutrition. Most people still do not eat a good diet with the food that is responsible for building us up. We consume too many omega-6 oils (safflower, sunflower, corn, soybean, cottonseed as well as others). We need to increase our consumption of omega-3 oils (fish oil supplements, flax seed, and others). Omega-3 is an anti-inflammatory essential fatty oil which improves the elasticity of every cell in our body. Cells that are hydrated and oxygenated work at an optimal level and reverse the aging process. With a smooth functioning, healthy body we see our energy levels rise. More and more studies tell us that as we take the proper nutrients, and not drugs, there is less likelihood of disease. Disease is not natural or normal. We bring it upon ourselves by improper eating and taking too many drugs. Drugs are sometimes needed in some cases but the widespread use of drugs in America is making us a sicker nation than any other industrialized nation in the world.

If you want to live a long healthy life examine what you are doing—eat properly, meditate, exercise, and breathe deeply.

Some studies say that 90 percent of our illnesses are stress related. Breathing deeply can melt that stress away. There is scientific evidence that deep breathing from the diaphragm chemically changes a person’s physiology, which is a person’s mechanical, physical and biochemical function. We can quickly change a stressful situation into a calm, even flowing, life response. How we breathe regulates our physical bodies as well as our emotional and mental states. The key is knowing how to change our breath before anxiety arises. The normal “flight or fight” response is the stressor in this situation. Sometimes we need this “flight or fight” response, but in today’s society we don’t normally have a tiger chasing us so we don’t need this response most of the time.

As we practice breathing from our belly we fill our lungs all the way to the bottom. Remember when you go to the doctor’s they ask you to breathe deeply so they can tell if there is any congestion in your lungs.

You can do this sitting or lying down. I do it both ways. Sometimes when I awake in the middle of the night I’ll place my hands on my belly and breathe in and out making sure I breathe deeply. Other times when I’m in the sauna I will meditate and practice my breathing. Either way it will keep you from stress.