The Breath of Life and the Importance of Deep Breathing

Statistics show that 85% of illness is caused by stress! Just think about it for a minute. If we could control stress in our lives, we would be healthier, stay out of the hospitals more and have more time for our loved ones and the important things in life!

Deep breathing is an easy way to bring more peace into our lives and it will also energize the body and calm the nerves at the same time. Most people are shallow breathers, never realizing that they are robbing themselves of precious energy and health!

Here is one way of filling our entire lungs with life-giving oxygen according to Bragg Health Crusades: http://www.bragg.com/
Lie flat on your back, relax and then slowly inhale through your nose and do not consciously try to move the upper chest or the abdominal region. While you are inhaling, place your hands on your lower ribs, which are known as the floating ribs. Now, if you are breathing correctly, you can feel your lower ribs expand. Slowly take in a long, deep breath. When you feel that your lungs are filled to full capacity with air, then you can slowly expel the breath with a long, lip-pursed sigh.

The best time to do this is in bed, either in the morning or at night when things are quieter and we are not hustling about. And because we are 'hustling about' is the reason we need to do our deep breathing exercises! Try to make it a habit and soon you will see that we MUST do them everyday because we know that it makes us calmer and more focused. And yes, even happier!

Yoga is another way to ensure we are getting our deep breathing in as it focuses on bringing the oxygen to the entire body. It is an excellent form of exercise bringing strength as well as life-giving breath to our bodies. Deep breathing brings necessary oxygen to each and every cell in our body and if our cells are well-nourished, we stay healthy! And since our bodies are made up entirely of cells, it depends on that breath of life to keep us alive and well!