We can live for a long time without food and heat and quite a while without water. However, not very long without breathing. Some ancient eastern cultures believe that our breath is our life. Certainly the two appear and disappear about the same time. From a holistic perspective, how we breathe is important. Without "proper" breathing, our bodies do not function at optimum and we cannot utilize our full ability to sense.

Babies and young children breath naturally . . .which is to say "correctly." Wind musicians, singers, athletes, and martial artists are taught to breathe correctly as a matter of necessity for their occupations. The rest of us, as adolescents and adults, pretty much do not breathe naturally. Instead, we "chest breathe."

Chest breathing engages only the barest minimum of the diaphragm and instead relies on the muscles of the rib cage to draw air into their lungs. You can verify this by the rising of your shoulders and expansion of your rib cage when you inhale. The only time such breathers fully utilize the diaphragm is when their bodies are physically distressed past normal endurance. Only then does the diaphragm fully engage, bypassing the persons regular programmed "chest breathing" in order to get enough air into the body. This temporary use of the diaphragm often results in the side-ache or belly-ache that people who are not used to physical exertion experience when they take up jogging or a similar activity for the first time.

Anatomically, the diaphragm is a muscle that, when engaged, pulls downward creating a vacuum which causes the lungs to fill with air. The downward action of the diaphragm pushes on the internal organs which in turn causes the belly to expand outward. When the diaphragm relaxes, that air is expelled out of the lungs and the belly returns to normal. This is called, "belly breathing" which draws air into all your lungs where "chest breathing draws air only into the top third (the small portion) of your lungs. From a holistic perspective, "belly breathing" is a good thing to practice.

Lay down flat on your back

Place your hands over your solar plexus

Gently but forcefully expel all the air from your lungs

Relax and allow your lungs to begin filling with air

You will feel your diaphragm pull down.

Continue to inhale and allow the breath to push your belly out

Exhale and allow your stomach to return to normal

Repeat the process until you begin to feel its effects

Now sit up and continue to breathe using your diaphragm

Repeat the process and try working on these exercises in the course of your day

 

Folks who become serious about natural breathing will, over time, place books on their solar plexus during the prone-position exercises in an effort to move their sub-conscious breathing to its origins … this may take up to two years with diligent effort.