AN INTRODUCTION TO BREATHING?

The human body is exceptional, it is capable of so much, many of its functions are even automatic so that we don't even need to consciously think about them. As amazing as this is it does bring up some issues, it means that some of those functions go unnoticed and therefore something that may not be working as well as it should gets missed, one of those functions is breathing.

BREATHING is the most important function of all, we can go weeks without food, days without water but only minutes without breathing, and we all know how what we eat and drink can have a massive effect on our health. So if breathing is obviously more important than food and water and they can effect our health so much, does it not stand to reason that the way we breathe must have an even bigger effect on our health? The answer is a resounding YES!!! The way we breathe effects everything.

The way we breathe is so important, if you think of the way someone breathes when they are scared, upset, angry or in any other stressful emotional state you will know that more than not they will be taking big breaths usually through the mouth and upper chest. This type of breathing puts our nervous system into a sympathetic state which is known as fight or flight.

In contrast to this if a person is calm, relaxed and totally under control they would be breathing softly, slowly, through the nose and low into the diaphragm and therefore they would be in a parasympathetic state known as rest and digest.

Our ancestors may have been in the fight or flight state on occasion when totally necessary like running from a predator of fighting an enemy, hence the term fight or flight.

However once the threat was over the rest of the time they would be in rest and digest state to reserve energy. Unfortunately unlike our ancestors we now live in a modern world that is very fast paced with many worries and concerns which causes high levels of stress, anxiety and emotion and it's being raised in this environment and leading these stressful lives that has pushed us into the sympathetic state (fight or flight) way too much.

This way of life has created many forms of dysfunctional breathing in the majority of the population and most people don't even realise it because their breathing has always been automatic and so has slowly changed over their lives unnoticed. This can cause or exacerbate many condition like asthma, panic disorder, high blood pressure, sleep apnea the list goes on. The good news is that it can be reversed, so by becoming aware of your breathing and learning simple scientifically proven breathing techniques and exercises, you can train your respiratory system to get back to being functional and therefore efficient which will help all those conditions.

People will diet and exercise to help their health which is a big part but if you are not giving your breathing function any attention you are missing the most important part and as I aways say if you don't take the time for your health, your health will take time from you.

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