The Importance of Breathing

Every system in the body relies on oxygen. From cognition to digestion, effective breathing can not only provide you with a greater sense of mental clarity, it can also help you sleep better, digest food more efficiently, improve your body's immune response, and reduce stress levels.

It is not called “The Breath of Life” for nothing. One of the most basic functions of the human body, breathing not only fuels the body with oxygen, it can also clear a foggy mind and help strengthen the muscles. Yet few people learn how to breathe in a way that allows the body to function the way it should.

Before you can understand proper breathing techniques, it is important to know a little about how your body breathes. When you breathe in, or inhale, the muscle on the bottom of your ribcage, called your diaphragm, contracts and moves downward. This allows the lungs to have ample room to expand. The muscles between your ribs, called the intercostal muscles, contract to pull your ribcage upward and outward. As your lungs expand, air is sucked in through your nose and mouth and travels down your trachea to your lungs. After passing through your bronchial tubes, the air finally reaches the air sacs where oxygen is passed into the blood stream. At the same time, carbon dioxide travels into the air sacs from the blood stream and is expelled from the body as you exhale. On average, this process is repeated between 17,000-30,000 a day, every day, as long as a person is alive.

Deep breathing sends a message to your brain that has a calming effect. It can lower your heart rate and breathing rate, decrease your blood pressure, reduce muscle tension and help you feel less stressed overall – all essential for your health and well-being.

Since the are so many systems at play with each and every  breath, it is important to allow all of these coordinating processes to work they way they should.

• This begins, first and foremost, with great posture. Sitting up straight allows the lungs to expand quickly and efficiently with every breath. Likewise, sitting up straight helps air to travel into the lungs and carbon dioxide to travel out of the lungs unimpeded. If you are sitting at your desk and feel foggy or otherwise uninspired, take a moment to reposition your body with a straight back to notice an immediate improvement at how well oxygen is reaching your bloodstream and thereby your brain.
• While many people focus on completely inhaling in order to improve their breathing, most people only exhale 70 percent of the carbon dioxide in their lungs. Try, instead to push all of the air out of your lungs as though you are blowing bubbles. Not only will your body reward you with instant energy, you will notice how much more efficient you are in filling your lungs.

There are two main types of breathing : costal (meaning “of the ribs”) or chest breathing, and diaphragmatic or abdominal breathing. Only when we take a maximum breath is a third variety used, known as clavicular breathing. This type of breathing is characterised by an outward, upward movement of the chest wall.

We get oxygen by breathing in fresh air, and we remove carbon dioxide from the body by breathing out stale air. But how does the breathing mechanism work? Air flows in via our mouth or nose. The air then follows the windpipe, which splits first into two bronchi: one for each lung.

Here's how to do it: Sit up tall, and relax your shoulders. Keep your mouth closed and inhale rapidly through your nose with quick, short breaths (exhale quickly as well). Try doing that for about 10 seconds. Take a 15-30 second break and breathe normally. Repeat several times.