OPTIMIZE YOUR BREATHING
Oxygen is essential to the human body's metabolic process, which sustains life. Since
the human body cannot store oxygen for later use as it does with food and water, oxygen deprivation of more than a few minutes
will cause unconsciousness. Organ damage (notably the heart and brain) occurs if deprived of oxygen for much longer
than four minutes, and death will occur shortly after. Air is the most common and only natural source of oxygen so we
must breathe continuously to live.
Metabolism is a collection of chemical
reactions that takes place in the body's cells to convert the food we eat into the energy needed to power everything we
do, from moving to thinking to growing. Metabolism is a constant process that begins at conception and ends when we
die.
Basal metabolic rate, or BMR, is a measure of the rate at which a person's
body uses or "burns" energy (in the form of calories) while at rest. A person with a low BMR will tend to
gain more pounds of body fat over time than a similar-sized person with an average BMR, even if they eat the same amount of
food and get the same amount of exercise. Heredity determines the tendency to develop a certain level of BMR but people
can actually change their BMR through life-style changes.
The most common belief
is that increasing exercise is the only way to increase BMR. However, according to Encarta Encyclopedia, "although
skeletal-muscle contraction is a main feature of exercise, many other systems in the body are activated to support this process...
As a person engages in regular aerobic exercise, the heart, lungs, and muscles all become more efficient at using oxygen.
The heart pumps more blood with each stroke, the lung capacity of each inhalation increases and the muscle fibers extract
more oxygen from the blood."
Now, think about this. Metabolism,
the body's chemical reaction that converts the fuel in food into energy and requires oxygen, is similar to combustion,
a chemical process in which a substance reacts with oxygen to produce heat and light. Adding more oxygen to a fire makes
it burn hotter and faster. Restricting oxygen slows down a fire and totally smothering the fire will kill it.
If the rate of combustion slows from reducing oxygen, then body metabolism must also slow down
from lower intakes of oxygen. Therefore, it makes sense that inhaling more oxygen will increase the basal metabolic
rate so that the body burns calories hotter and faster.
Since increased
oxygen intake is one of the major benefits of exercise, it seems entirely possible to experience some of the benefits of exercise
by increasing oxygen intake. Optimizing the breathing process should be able to accomplish some of the benefits of beginning
exercise.
Most of us have good intentions to go to the gym or out for
a walk or run, right up until we fall into bed, realizing another day has passed and we did not manage to make time for it.
Some of us are just plain lazy and hate to exercise. (That would be me!) Some of us are sick or injured and cannot
exercise. Nevertheless, we are all still breathing, and we can control our breathing and we can improve our health by
optimizing that breathing!
The benefits of increasing the intake of oxygen
by deep diaphragmatic breathing are enormous. Every system and part of the body is affected. I think that even
though breathing is so important we do it automatically, that very automatic process makes us forget about the importance
of it. How ridiculous we are!
Increased oxygen intake can:
1. Increase energy levels.
2. Relieve stress and the symptoms
of stress.
3. Massage and drain the lymphatic system.
4.
Improve brain function.
5. Balance endocrine chemistry.
6.
Reduce Depression.
7. Ease muscle tension and pain.
8.
Reduce insulin sensitivity.
9. Correct all GI issues by exercising and energizing
the vital organs.
10. Promote relaxation and ease Insomnia.
11.
Reduce adrenal fatigue.
12. Increase Basal Metabolic Rate.
13.
Facilitate weight loss.
14. Improve hormonal balance to reduce menstrual and menopausal
symptoms.
15. Increase cardiovascular capacity.
16.
Burn accumulated fat for energy.
17. Strengthen abdominal muscles.
18. Flatten stomach.
19. Reduce the dangerous abdominal fat.
20. Detoxify, ridding the body of more waste products.
21.
Heal and reduce skin eruptions.
22. Slow aging process.
23.
Reduce blood pressure.
24. Improve heart health and endurance.
25. Improve posture.
Wait! This list is getting too long.
I think it would be easier to say, "There is no part of the body or condition affecting the body that is not improved
by increasing oxygen intake." Or, "Deep Breathing Improves Everything!"
It
is amazing what a huge improvement we can all make in our health so easily! And, it is FREE! No gym fee or equipment
is necessary. No expensive shoes or special clothing is required. The schedule is not dependent or anybody else.
Start getting better right now! Straighten up, pull those shoulders
back, and put a smile on your face and:
EXHALE, contract you abdominal muscles
as you exhale more, 1...2...3...
INHALE, relax and expand you stomach as you sniff
in a little more, 1...2...3...
Repeat 30 times and go drink a big glass of
water.
Patricia Kenworthy ©
September 2007