Why do we need to breathe?

Why do we need to breathe? It's an obvious question but perhaps the question should be, “how can we breathe more efficiently?”

Quite often without being conscious, we generally breathe into our chests.  This is a shallow form of breathing not allowing nearly enough oxygen to reach all of our cells and regenerate our blood supply.  Shallow breathing can hinder the body's natural defence mechanism, the immune system, to heal a myriad of health problems including sinus problems, asthma, allergies and headaches to name a few.  The more oxygen we breathe in, the less likely we are to suffer from colds or flu’s; or at least not as severely.  Of course, eating healthily, getting enough sleep and aiming for a balanced lifestyle helps too!  In yoga, most classes incorporate pranayama - prana meaning life force and yama meaning management or control of the same.  

A good way to practise is to lie over a blanket folded lengthways under the back ribs with shoulders on the ground, with one hand on the belly and the other hand around the side ribs just under the armpit.  To start the full yogic breath:  first practise breathing into the lower lobes of the lungs, breathing in and out through the nose consciously.  Allow the belly to rise on the inhale and gently sink back down to the spine on the exhale.  We're not just pushing the belly up, we're actually breathing into the lower lobes of the lungs!  Who knew that the lungs were so expansive?!

Practise breathing into the belly - your natural unforced breath - and feel the hand rising with the belly (the lower lobes of the lungs); try not to let the chest rise at this point.  Practise for a few rounds until you get the hang of it.  So now the relaxation response is being activated, switching on the parasympathetic nervous system, and not only are you calming thoughts down, you are slowing the heart rate down, lowering blood pressure, stimulating digestion, liver, kidneys and bladder amongst other amazing healthy things!

Next take the breath from the lower lobes up to the middle lobes of the lungs – the front ribs, the side ribs and the back ribs, filling every corner and pocket of the lungs with your breath.  Your ribs protect your heart and your lungs and this vital oxygen is being sent to every cell around these major organs. You can imagine, if you like, your breath as your favourite colour and visualise or imagine every corner of the lungs being filled up with this colour.  Practise this for a few rounds until you get the hang of it.  Your hand around the side ribs should be expanding outwards.

Next take the breath from the lower and middle lobes of the lungs, all the way up to the upper lobes of the lungs - the collarbones.  Here the oxygen helps to feed the nervous system which in turn works with the endocrine system which is responsible for hormones which influence almost every cell, organ and function of our bodies.. regulating tissue function, metabolism, sexual and reproductive process to name but a few. 

Lastly,  breathe out the same way we started.  Exhale from the lower lobes of the lungs first, then the middle lobes (chest sinks down towards the hips) and the upper lobes (the collarbones sink down towards the chest).  Aim to keep the breath equal in length on the inhale as it is on the exhale.  Silently count the breath in and out for at least a count of 5, or more if you practised and also as you gain experience.  Don’t overfill the lungs so you are straining, just a comfortable lung full of air.

So I hope that now you can gain a better understanding of how important it is to breathe efficiently and into all lobes of the lungs to help your body function at its optimum for peak health.

 

Namaste

Jenni