STATION BREATH OF LIFE BREATH OF LIFE This Station is a resting place for you to continue to practice all that you have learned, as well as reading, learning and practicing how to breath properly which will help you for the rest of your life. We suggest that you linger here awhile, review the other Stations, MASTER your breathing techniques and Meditations and then travel on your journey once again. Deep Breathing & How It Affects You It Is Important when you have FMS/CFS to breathe properly Breathing & Menopause, Hot Flashes Women going through menopause who use belly breathing and slow down their respiratory rate (to seven or eight cycles of inhalation and exhalation a minute) at the onset of a hot flash can apparently either "abort" it or "reduce its severity." Breathing, Ultradian Rhythms, and Headaches Those readers who have observed their breathing for any length of time have probably noticed that, in general, air does not move through the nasal passages equally at the same time. Usually when the left nostril is more open, the right one is more congested and vice versa. This occurs because the flow of blood shifts back and forth between the nostrils in a rhythm that takes approximately one and a half to two hours. This "ultradian rhythm," long observed by medical science, is related to the functioning of the brain hemispheres and can play an important role in healing. When the left nostril is more open, the right hemisphere of the brain is generally more dominant; when the right nostril is more open, the left hemisphere is generally more dominant. You can make use of this fact for your own well-being. You can, for example, intentionally open a nostril that is more congested and thus make the other hemisphere more active by lying down on your side with the congested nostril above and continuing to breathe through the nose. If you are feeling out of sorts or have a headache, trying this experiment for 15 or 20 minutes can often bring relief. Breathing, Hyperventilation & Anxiety As we begin to learn how to observe our breathing, many of us may notice that even at rest our breathing is faster than the "average" rate of 12 to 14 times a minute (a rate which is already faster than it needs to be). In fact, many of us, without knowing it, habitually "hyperventilate"--that is, we take quick, shallow breaths from the top of our chest. This kind of breathing sharply reduces the level of carbon dioxide in our blood. This reduced level of carbon dioxide causes the arteries, including the carotid artery going to the brain, to constrict, thus reducing the flow of blood throughout the body. When this occurs, no matter how much oxygen we may breathe into our lungs, our brain and body will experience a shortage of oxygen. The lack of oxygen switches on the sympathetic nervous system--our "fight or flight reflex"--which makes us tense, anxious, and irritable. Such breathing also reduces our ability to think clearly, and tends to put us at the mercy of obsessive thoughts and images. Some researchers believe that hyperventilation can actually magnify our psychological problems and conflicts, and that chronic hyperventilation is intimately bound up with our anxieties, apprehensions, and fears. The key to slowing down our breathing is not to try to slow it down, but rather to learn how to breathe more deeply, using our diaphragm, belly, rib cage, and lower back in the breathing process. Diaphragmatic Breathing Can Help Your Heart Recent research seems to show that there is a relationship between upper chest breathing and heart attacks. Patients who had experienced a heart attack were later taught how to integrate diaphragmatic breathing into their daily lives. "In doing so they significantly reduced their chances of having a second heart attack. By learning deep, diaphragmatic breathing we can apparently help our heart. Relaxing Your Face Muscles for Deeper Breathing & More Energy Those of us whose work requires extreme visual concentration can improve our work and increase our energy by making sure that our face muscles are relaxed and by looking away frequently from the work we are doing. This will help our breathing. When our face muscles become tense and our eyes lock onto anything too long, diaphragmatic movement during breathing decreases. This makes our breathing more shallow and means that we're taking in less oxygen. What's more, this shallow breathing decreases the lymph flow in our body thus reducing the effectiveness of our immune system. So be sure you check your face muscles every 15 minutes or so to see if they're tense. And be sure to let your eyes move frequently. If for some reason your work does not allow you to look away, then at least use your peripheral vision. This will help relax your diaphragm and improve your breathing. Conscious Breathing For Reducing Stress & Pain Yogis, chi kung practitioners, meditators, and alternative health practitioners have known for a long time that conscious breathing can help reduce stress, increase relaxation, and decrease pain. Bringing our attention to our breathing during meditation brings many such benefits. Such mindful breathing helps us "enter the mind-body conversation without judgments or opinions, releasing peptide molecules from the hind brain to regulate breathing while unifying all systems." The key here, it seems, is simply to be present to our breathing, using our inner attention to follow our inhalations and exhalations as they take place by themselves. So if you want to increase relaxation and reduce stress and pain, try sitting quietly each day for at least several minutes and simply follow your breathing with your attention. Digestive Breathing for Improved Digestion Digestive breathing is a simple but effective deep breathing exercise that can help promote digestion. It is based on using your hands to stimulate energy points related to the spleen and stomach meridians (energy pathways described in Chinese medicine), while you simultaneously direct your breathing deep into your belly. To undertake this practice, sit on a firm chair with your spine erect, yet relaxed, and your feet flat on the floor in front of you. Place your hands on your knees with the heel of your hands above your kneecaps and your fingers pointed downward. Use your fingers, especially your index finger, middle finger, and ring finger, to find three indentations in your knee where the fingers can comfortably fit. Your middle finger will be over the center of the kneecap. Now simply keep your hands there, using just a slight pressure to stimulate the meridians running through the knee area. Sense the warmth going into your knees from your hands. As you breathing in, sense that you are breathing energy gently into your expanding belly. As you are breathing out, sense your belly naturally contracting. Do not use force. Work in this way with your breathing for at least five minutes after each meal, or any time you have digestive problems. Breathing for Relaxation & Stress Reduction Some of us try to do deep breathing when we want to relax. Unfortunately, most of us do not really know how to breathe deeply. We do not know how to release the unnecessary tension in our belly, back and ribs. As a result, our efforts to deal with stress through deep breathing often result in shallow, faster breathing which tends to make us more nervous and tense. There is another, easier approach to using our breath to help us relax. In this approach, you emphasize and lengthen your exhalation. It's what happens naturally when you sigh. The long exhalation helps turn on your parasympathetic nervous system, your "relaxation response." There's nothing to do except to make sure your exhalation is longer than your inhalation. You don't have to count to do this. Just put your awareness on your breathing as you exhale. Sense the air rising upward and going out slowly through your nose. Don't worry about the inhalation; it will take care of itself. This breathing exercise can be undertaken safely whenever you feel stress coming on. Deep Breathing Can Improve Fitness Researchers working with cardiac patients at the University of Pavia, Italy, have established an optimum healthy breath rate of 6 breaths a minute. When you consider that the average resting breath rate is 12-14 times a minute, this represents a substantial reduction in breath rate. Patients who learned to slow down their breathing through special deep breathing exercises ended up with higher levels of blood oxygen and were able to perform better on exercise tests. According to the report, low blood oxygen, which is common in cardiac patients, "may impair skeletal muscle and metabolic function, and lead to muscle atrophy and exercise intolerance." The authors of the study conclude that their findings support other research "that report beneficial effects of training respiratory muscles and decreasing respiratory work in (cardiac heart failure patients), or physical training in general." The Importance of Breathing Through Your Nose Except for emergencies, our breathing was designed to take place mainly through our nose. When we breathe through our nose, the hairs that line our nostrils filter out particles of dust and dirt that can be injurious to our lungs. If too many particles accumulate on the membranes of the nose, we automatically secret mucus to trap them or sneeze to expel them. The mucous membranes of our septum, which divides the nose into two cavities, further prepare the air for our lungs by warming and humidifying it. There is another important reason for breathing through the nose. This has to do with maintaining the correct balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in our blood. When we breathe through our mouth we usually inhale and exhale air quickly in large volumes. This often leads to a kind of hyperventilation (breathing excessively fast for the actual conditions in which we find ourselves). It is important to recognize that it is the amount of carbon dioxide in our blood that generally regulates our breathing. Research has shown that if we release carbon dioxide too quickly, the arteries and vessels carrying blood to our cells constrict and the oxygen in our blood is unable to reach the cells in sufficient quantity. This includes the carotid arteries which carry blood (and oxygen) to the brain. The lack of sufficient oxygen going to the cells of the brain can turn on our sympathetic nervous system, our "fight or flight" response, and make us tense, anxious, irritable, and depressed. So remember, when possible, to breathe through your nose. Laughter, Breath, and Healing We have known for a long time that laughter can help us heal. Recent research has shown that laughter reduces at least four hormones associated with stress. In fact, laughter is one of the most powerful stress-reducing tools we have at our disposal. Laughter also helps increase the level of immunoglobulin A, which helps protect us from flu and cold viruses, as well as upper respiratory problems. Laughter, especially a good belly laugh, is also a good source of cardiac exercise and promotes better breathing. It strengthens the breathing muscles in a natural way, and makes them more supple. It also helps clear the lungs of old air. Taoist master Mantak Chia, who, as an exercise, frequently got the whole class laughing for 10-15 minutes at a time. After such experiences the students all felt not only invigorated, but also relaxed, their breathing slower and fuller. Try it sometimes with your friends. Sit together in a room and start making funny faces at one another. It won't take long before you all find yourselves immersed in deep belly laughter. A few minutes of such laughter every day may well help your breathing, support your health, and lengthen your life. The Ten Secrets of Authentic Breathing 1. When possible in your daily life, inhale and exhale only through your nose. 2. Sense the movement of your breath frequently in the midst of your everyday activities. Remember not to hold your breath. 3. Be sure your belly stays relaxed. Let it expand as you inhale and retract as you exhale. Touch it and massage it frequently. 4. Breath is life and movement. Let your breath engage and fill every part of your body, especially your belly, back, spine, and chest. 5. To transform your breathing, you must start with your exhalation, with letting go. 6. A long, slow exhalation helps harmonize your diaphragm and turns on your "relaxation response." 7. Sense the natural pause after the exhalation; let yourself rest there for a moment. 8. Let your inhalation arise by itself, when it's ready. 9. As you breathe, sense the various breathing spaces of your body. Smile into these spaces and let them expand throughout your being. 10. Remember, you are a breathing being, alive right now and right here. Let yourself feel the mystery and the miracle of your breath and your life. Breathing First, learn to listen to your breathing. Your breathing will tell you when you have, so to speak, gone overboard. If possible, do only as much as you can do while breathing through your nose (of course, this may not apply to swimmers). In many instances, this will slow you down a bit and help ensure that you are not doing more than you are realistically capable of. Second, learn how to breathe more from your belly. This will help keep you relaxed and moving from your center of gravity. Most problems occur when we lose our overall sense of balance and put too much stress on one part of ourselves. Learning how to breathe from your belly will put you more in the center of yourself and enable you to sense and feel when you are doing too much. Next Station: Inner Peace Please visit the message boards and post a message See Photo's of members Please Sign Our Guest Book Healing Station Newsletter Disclaimer Any information posted on The Wellness Train - e-group list, message board, newsletter, FMS Project 2001, Wellness Train Home Site and the Healing Station Newsletter, or MSN community live chat area should not be taken as professional medical advice. All information posted in any areas pertaining to "WELLNESS TRAIN" must therefore be recognized as "personal opinions" only. Articles and research posts copied and distributed from the Internet are for information purposes only. To obtain medical advice, patients should always consult their own Health Care Practitioners. Please note that the Wellness Train and all affiliated internet sites - home page - e-groups list serve - message board - newsletter (Healing Station) or any other publication or information site is NOT affiliated with any other organization on the Internet, unless otherwise stipulated.