Originally published October 17 2014
Learn how to breathe properly and experience surprising health benefits
by Michael Edwards
(NaturalNews) The simplest thing we do, the one thing we don't even have to think about, is something almost everyone is doing wrong. Breathing correctly is one of the most important practices one can do for their health. It's life changing. It's so simple, so easy, yet so overlooked, so underestimated, and so underappreciated.
Most people breathe rapidly with shallow breaths. We raise our shoulders, pull in our diaphragm, and take a breath that fills only the top portion of our lungs. This is restrictive, and inefficient. It's a form of breathing that makes sense during intense situations, but due to the low-grade constant state of stress in our modern world, most people seem to just get stuck with this kind of breathing. When you breathe properly, your diaphragm, your stomach, and your ribcage expand, not the pectoral area. Fully exhaling is important, too. Remember, you are breathing in oxygen rich air and releasing carbon dioxide and toxins.
Have you ever watched babies breathe? Their stomachs rise and their rib cages fully expand with each breath they take. Watch and learn. They're doing it right. They don't need to be taught. They'll just need reminders later on. Like us.
Benefits of Breathing Properly
Every cell in our body requires oxygen to survive. Higher oxygen levels increase function and are vital for good health. Many of the most effective natural treatments for serious life threatening diseases focus on oxygenating the cells. The easiest way to get more oxygen into your body and in every cell of your body is to breathe properly.
Proper breathing dramatically increases stamina and mental clarity, and helps the body detoxify more efficiently (80% of the body's toxin removal is done through exhalations). It also improves the mood tremendously. It improves posture, which has a ton of other positive effects on health. It changes perspectives and alters realities. Consider this: when you're feeling blue, and you smile, ever notice how it forces you to feel a little better? For the same reason it's hard to be miserable while smiling, it's difficult to be chronically stressed out while taking full, proper, rejuvenating, relaxing breaths.
Breathing properly is so important that in many of the ancient martial arts practices it was said that the student spends months or years learning how to breathe and to heal before he learns to defend himself.
Learn How to Breathe the Right Way
Lay down. Put an object on your abdomen, like a book. Breathe in, and push the book up as high as possible by expanding the stomach. Breathe out, decompress the abdomen, and see the object lower as far as possible. Practice this exaggerated breathing until it's easy. Then slow things down. Try taking just four breaths per minute. Think quality over quantity. Breathe only through your nose for several minutes. Then inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth for several minutes. Meditate by focusing only on deliberate, controlled, deep breathing and your body's reaction to it (how it feels).
The next step is to breathe as deeply and as slowly as possible while exercising, and to breathe right every single time you think about it. Straighten the back, raise the shoulders, and keep good posture while practicing. Go to sleep every night practicing, and wake up every morning and practice it, too. It will become second nature. Your life will change. Seriously.
If you suffer from asthma, it's a little known fact that candida overgrowth within the body is one of the most common causes of asthma and other allergies. Learning to breathe properly with good posture, combined with balancing gut flora, typically cures asthma. See Kill Candida, and Yoga for some good exercises to do while practicing breathing properly. If you suffer from anxiety, check out the first source.
Sources:
http://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com
http://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com
http://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com
http://www.naturalnews.com
About the author:
Michael Edwards is the founder, owner, editor-in-chief, and janitor for Organic Lifestyle Magazine and Green Lifestyle Market. At age 17, Michael weighed more than 360 pounds. He suffered from ADHD, allergies, frequent bouts of illness, and chronic, debilitating insomnia.
Conventional medicine wasn't working. While he restored his health through alternative medicine he studied natural health and became immersed in it.
Michael Edwards is the founder, owner, editor-in-chief, and janitor for Organic Lifestyle Magazine and Green Lifestyle Market. At age 17, Michael weighed more than 360 pounds. He suffered from ADHD, allergies, frequent bouts of illness, and chronic, debilitating insomnia.
Conventional medicine wasn't working. While he restored his health through alternative medicine he studied natural health and became immersed in it.
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