A blast from the past...Paste the link if you don't receive the images/can't proceed to part 2.
http://web.archive.org/web/20041023072433/http://www.hweb.nl/raja/Breath_Cosmos/breath.html
Be Well.
David
Breath and Cosmos |
| Breath |
| The breath. So inconspicuous and so vital. We breathe all the time and hardly notice it. It is the first thing we do as soon are brought into this world. And it is what we can do least without. Breathing seems a relatively simple physical activity. The action of the up and down movement of the diaphragm and the rib cage generate the in and out flow of air. Up and down and in and out. Oxygen rich air flows in and carbon-dioxide rich airflow’s out. The inversion of motion allows for the transformation to take place. This is what is obvious in the human system. When we look into the details we realise it is not that simple. As we breathe in our lungs fill with the gasses that constitute our atmosphere. From this mixture we absorb the oxygen into our bloodstream which distributes it to every part of our body. In the cells this oxygen is used for the processes of metabolism. The chemical process that keeps us going is the reaction of organic molecules, and especially the carbon atoms in them, with this oxygen. This is the oxidation, which releases the energy that keeps us alive and warm. It is the fire whitin us. The burning that does not destroy, but creates fire. What we breathe out is carbon dioxide. Our respiration cycle can be outlined in the following diagram. In the lungs the oxygen is exchanged for the carbon dioxide. Oxygen rich blood is transported to heart, which pumps it to all the cells of the body. There the chemical reaction takes place where the oxygen combines with the carbon of the organic compounds from our food. This combustion generates the energy and heat that we need for living. Once again we encounter inversion and transformation. The bloodstream is pumped around the body in two cycles, to and from the lungs and to and from the cells. And two transformations take place, one in the lungs and one in the cells. The heart functions as the generator, sustaining the cycle. This cycle within the human system is in its turn one half of a larger cycle of inversion and transformation which takes place between the animals and the plants. The carbon dioxide that we breathe out is produced as result of the metabolistic burning inside the cell. This waist product becomes the basis of the process that takes place at the opposite end of the cycle. When the green chlorophyll in the cells of plants catches the energy particles of light, carbon dioxide and water are synthesised into organic compounds. This is called photosynthesis. Here the waist product is oxygen. As we breathe in and out we are enabling our life processes to take place, transforming oxygen and food into energy and heat. And when the plant breathes it transforms carbon dioxide and water with the help of energy into oxygen and organic compounds. The organic substances produced by the plants become our food. Which is in its turn used in the combustion process which takes place in our cells. And what is produced as our waist is in its return the food used by plants. These two interwoven cycles have turned our planet into a blue gem, which travels in the cosmic ocean of space. The process is known as the carbon cycle. It involves several successive phases of inversion and transformation. Together the two cycles of breath give us life. The most precious and most mysterious phenomenon of the universe. It has taken billions of years to evolve, and it has eventually led to the emergency of consciousness in us, humans. A diagram of these two processes interaction looks like this. |
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