In this blogpost we present part one of a two part look at how our breathing shifts attitude, perceptions and beliefs. Ancient yogis believe the breath is the key to the mind.
When we breathe deeply and regularly, we unlock higher energies which support and sooth our nervous system. This is why when most patients come to see Jon Kabot-Zinn, a highly regarded teacher of meditation and Director of the Mind Body Institute at University of Mass. Medical center, the first thing he asks them to do is to lay on the floor and teach them to breathe. These powerful shifts help us to “get out of our head” or intellect and explore greater creative possibility in our day.
Wayne Dyer once said change the way you look at something and what you look at will change. Finding stillness and that place of infinite power helps us to observe the activity of our mind without judgment. We then have more compassion to allow the changes in our life to help us grow and make better choices.
As we keep practicing, over time, we begin to thank those lower energies (fear, resentment, anger, jealousy) for slowing us down and teaching us how to allow more blessings and good energy to come into our lives.
Breathing
The physiological understanding of why the breath is so powerful has profound meaning. Our body is built on a network of wiring called the central nervous system. This system is made of two important and different functions called the sympathetic and parasympathetic.
The sympathetic is like an alarm clock inside our body, helping us to get up and go while the parasympathetic is our resting state where we allow our body to repair. A good example of the sympathetic system is when we mobilize our energy to quickly complete a project or drive to get somewhere. When we wish to let go of our day, soothe our energies, we are igniting the parasympathetic.
Unfortunately in many cases, because of the way we breathe, and how important the breath is, we overemphasize the sympathetic nervous system and feel that we are under constant stress all the time. The Mind Body Institute, www.mbmi.org, found that over 50 % of Americans currently report high stress a daily basis. Untreated stress seriously affects our performance, health and well-being.
Breathing as Babies
The importance of utilizing proper breathing not only provides us with oxygen, one of our primary nutrients for all metabolic function but allows us to activate the cleansing process in the alveolar sacs which exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide. Each day alone, we get 22,000 breaths and if we placed all the alveolar sacs together: they would take up the size of over half a tennis court. Just by comparison, our skin or largest sensory organ is only 3 square feet by 3 square feet. What a difference!
We had this perfect yogic breath when we were babies! Our whole body expanded as we breathed on an inhale and softened as we exhaled. According to yoga, we are not quite sure why we began breathing incorrectly.
What is more important is our willingness and readiness to start again the beautiful practice of deep breathing and cultivating positive attitudes, beliefs and perceptions and being a cause for miracles and heaven on earth.
Why don’t you experience deep breathing in one of our yoga classes? This month we give away free classes to our new subscribers of our monthly newsletter. You can sign-up right away to get your free class in the green box to the right!
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Great article! It’s so important to be aware of our breath. Sometimes I forget so thanks for the reminder.