Why You Need to Breathe - More from Body Talk Volume 9 # 8

Why you need to breathe - more

It has been said that "breath is life", but what does that mean? Is it merely an affirmation of the blatantly obvious or is there a deeper meaning to those three simple words?

Unless you are a diver prepping for a dive, you are probably taking breathing for granted right now. Thankfully, we don't need to think about breathing in order for it to happen, so we are happy to simply let it happen. However, becoming more conscious of how and why you breathe can have some profound benefits physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Take a deep breath as you consider the following fascinating physical and spiritual observations about breath and breathing:

* "Oxygen is the life of the party. Without oxygen, there would be no party." Gabriel Cousens, MD
* Breath allows for the release of metabolic waste products including CO2. CO2 is acidifying while O2 is alkalizing.
* Average adult lung capacity is about 6 liters. Vital capacity - the amount of air you can move after a full inhale and full exhale is about 75% of total capacity or 4.5 liters. The volume of air exchanged in an average breath is .5 liters or only about 11% of vital capacity.
* Vital capacity increases with aerobic exercise, especially swimming.
* Vital capacity is diminished, sometime to dangerously low levels, with certain lung disorders including asthma and emphysema.
* Shallow breathing (typical) and holding the breath (also common) trigger the sympathetic nervous system - the fight or flight response.
* Deep slow breathing triggers the parasympathetic nervous system - the relaxation or "all is well" response.
* As few as three deep, slow breaths measurably changes your physiology in support of vitality and health.
* The continuous rise and fall of the breath is one of many waves making up your life.
* Yogic tradition has devoted an entire limb of the eight limbs of yoga to pranayama or the practice of "mindful breathing".
* Pranayama is the physical technique that begins the journey into a direct experience of the metaphysical.
* There are over 100 ways to practice pranayama and they can be divided into three main categories: yoga pranayamas for cleansing and stabilizing the physical body, Samyama pranayamas to aid in turning inward (meditation) and Shakti pranayama for activating the Kundalini force (not for beginners).
* Inspire literally means "in Spirit".
* The difference between all the other animals of creation and Adam, the archetypal "first man" was: "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Genesis 2:7 King James version
* The Chinese tradition identifies the element "ether" as the most abundant element in the Universe. Ether is "space"; is the "formless substance" Wallace Wattles refers to in The Science of Getting Rich.
* Virtually all teachers of manifestation principals refer to this formless substance in some way. Many choosing to simply call it "God".
* And finally consider that the inhale is the passive phase of the breath, the exhale is the active phase.

Inspiration is always available - it is your choice to make the space and allow Spirit/breath in or to constrict and block the flow.

If you are working too hard, pause, take a breath, then another. Let Spirit in and begin again, riding the inspiration you have allowed your body and your mind to receive.

*** Some basic pranayama techniques may be found here:
http://www.yogasite.com/pranayama.htm