Just Breathe
“ Breath is the finest gift. Be grateful for this gift. “ Amit Ray
Most of us go through our daily lives not paying much attention to our breath. Breathing is so natural and automatic that we seem to forget the importance or the beauty of each breath. We inhale our first breath when we are born and exhale our last breath when we die. Every hour we breathe approximately 1,000 times or 24,000 times per day!! All with out giving much thought to this vital function.
Athletes, trained singers and yogis learn to consciously work with the breath because performance improves by strengthening presence, the mind-body connection, and lessening exhaustion. Deep diaphragmatic breathing oxygenates the blood and carries nutrition throughout our body and into every cell. Deep breathing also helps with moving the lymphatic system, our detoxification system for the entire human body. Breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps with the relaxation response, thereby reducing anxiety. When we incorporate the diaphragm into our breath we activate the vagus nerve, the 10th cranial nerve that is necessary for many functions in the body. The vagus nerve is responsible for: slowing the heart rate, controlling sweating, regulating blood pressure, stimulating peristalsis of the gastrointestinal tract, and controlling vascular tone. So, deep breathing is up-most important for mind-body healing.
The diaphragm, which is our main breathing muscle, sits right below the chest. It separates the upper thoracic cavity (heart and lungs) from our lower thoracic cavity, our abdomen. It is a large dome-shaped muscle that is attached to the rib cage, which is attached to the thoracic spine. It also attaches to the lumbar spine through two assymetrical crura tendons. Learning to breathe with the diaphragm will encourage spinal alignment, improve overall health, decrease anxiety, encourage mindfulness and presence and lessen spine and pelvic pain.
A simple experiment to try: Place one hand on your belly, the other hand over your heart. Breathe in slowly through your nose to the count of 3 or 4. Pause. Breathe out slowly through the mouth for a count of 6 to 8. Feel the abdomen and rib cage expanding, and if you are still, feel the lower back and pelvic floor muscles expanding. This is body felt presence. Try 4 or 5 more breaths. As we master the art of diaphragmatic breathing, we can begin to practice throughout the day, while waiting in line, being stuck in a traffic jam, taking our daily walk. Deep breathing will slowly transform the quality of your life.
At Luna Therapy Health and Wellness Spa, breath is the foundation to our philosophy and wellness model. Learning to breathe properly will encourage healing and lay the groundwork for all other therapeutic modalities to build upon. Learning to breathe with the diaphragm will not only strengthen your immune system, but increase joy of the present moment and build mind-body muscle for the inevitable tides of life.
Luna Therapy- Health and Wellness Spa
A different kind of Health Care
