http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/30474/
Be Well.
David
The Omnipotent Power of Breath, Part 1
Breathing is the most overlooked, easiest, and accessible tool we have to enhance our state of body-mind health. There is a direct link between breathing and health. Improper breathing can cause or aggravate all diseases and health issues. Learning to breathe correctly can have immediate and profound effects on mental, emotional, and physical states of imbalance or disease and allow our body-mind to be in an optimal state for healing.
The concept of breath as being tantamount to life is an essential tenet of global healing traditions worldwide. “Qi” and “prana” are considered life force in traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda, respectively.
In Part 1, I will describe correct breathing, the difference between abdominal and chest breathing, and the science of breathing.
Our first experiences with breathing were the most natural: Correct breathing is innate breathing. As infants, our breathing is natural, spontaneous, and unlabored. Infants breathe naturally with the belly. If you observe a baby breathing, you’ll notice his or her belly enlarges on an inhalation.
As children, when we become self-aware and self-conscious, we may lose touch with this natural and spontaneous way of breathing. Many of us, having forgotten how to belly breathe as we did when we were infants, become habitual chest breathers, holding the belly in and breathing from our chests.
Society and culture also influence how we breathe. Men and women receive subtle cues about the necessity of a flat stomach, of standing tall, and leading with the chest, thus inhibiting our natural, innate form of abdominal breathing.
Emotional states also affect our breathing. Fear, anxiety, anger, and other stressful feelings can unconsciously activate chest breathing, inhibit abdominal breathing, and even cause us to hold our breath or stop breathing momentarily.
Abdominal breathing is simply letting the belly expand when we inhale, as opposed to inhaling with the chest. The chest may rise a little, but most of the breath comes from letting the belly out. By letting the belly expand when we inhale, we make room for the lungs to expand more fully. The intestines move out of the way, making room for the lungs.
Abdominal breathing is sometimes referred to as diaphragmatic breathing. We are not actually breathing with the diaphragm. The diaphragm is akin to a swinging door that moves downward to allow for more lung expansion when we let the belly out while inhaling.
In Parts 2–4, I will explain the link between breath and emotions, the science of breathing, how chest breathing can cause and aggravate illness, the benefits of abdominal breathing, and offer suggestions for practicing abdominal breathing.
No comments:
Post a Comment