http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/31310/
Be Well.
David
In Parts 1 and 2, I discussed correct or natural breathing, the difference between abdominal and chest breathing, and the science of breathing.
In Part 3, I will revisit the link between breath and emotions and describe the powerful and immediate effects of breathing: how chest breathing can cause and aggravate illness, and how abdominal breathing can improve health.
Breath and emotions. I often refer to the body-mind, describing the intimate connection between thoughts, feelings, and body. (See my prior article series “Emotions and Health” for more details, theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/29130.) The psyche and soma are completely linked. There is no distinction between the two.
Stressful emotional states, often causing us to chest breathe at the expense of abdominal breathing, will toggle on the sympathetic nervous system, thus causing or aggravating any health issues we may have. Chest breathing will increase emotional states of fear, anxiety, and anger. And these emotional states, in turn, can cause us to chest breathe, with the consequent ill effects on health. Abdominal breathing can alleviate these health issues.
A little more about chest breathing. To breathe fully, chest breathing is always involved. One’s chest will rise and expand as one’s lungs fill more fully. This is especially useful if we are doing strenuous physical activity and happens naturally and spontaneously. It is important to be aware that one initiates the breath via one’s abdomen, not the chest.
How chest breathing can cause or aggravate illness. Chest breathing alone can cause and aggravate illness. Because chest breathing engages the sympathetic nervous system, it can inhibit digestive function, cause or aggravate cardiovascular problems, and make sleep, rest, relaxation, and even sex problematic.
In fact, all health issues are exacerbated by chest breathing: for example, circulatory diseases such as high blood pressure and coronary artery disease, respiratory disorders such as asthma, gastrointestinal issues such as gastritis and ulcers, and life-challenging diagnoses such as cancer and other chronic conditions that Western medicine deems incurable.
Digestion is also impaired by chest breathing. Peristalsis is directly inhibited by chest breathing. Since food is our first medicine, we can appreciate the profound and systemic effects of it on our body-mind health.
Learning to breathe naturally can alleviate health problems. By learning or actually relearning how to breathe naturally, through intentional abdominal breathing we can learn to consciously control which nervous system is activated.
Abdominal breathing will toggle on the parasympathetic system. We can improve our sleep, digestion, and concentration; enhance relaxation; relieve uncomfortable emotional states; improve cardiovascular function—any health issues that we may have. This parasympathetic state enables the optimal and necessary conditions for healing disease because a state of complete rest and relaxation is necessary for recovery from any illness.
In Part 4, I will explain how to breathe from the abdomen and offer suggestions for practicing.
References:
The Omnipotent Power of Breath, Part 1: theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/30474
The Omnipotent Power of Breath, Part 2: theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/30788
The Science of Breath by Swami Rama, Rudolph Ballentine, M.D., and Alan Hymes, M.D.
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