The Breath

Since long before my husband and I ever dated, he would sometimes tell me that if I wanted to be healthier and more fit, I needed to take deeper breaths.  I thought, "Um, okaaay. weirdo."  Once when we were working out, he explained to me that Chinese monks are among some of the healthiest and longest-living people on the planet.  Several factors probably play into their health and longevity: nutrition, frequent meditation, and deep breathing. 

Our lungs have different lobes--or compartments--full of tiny sacs (called alveoli) that fill with air when we breathe in.  The left lung has two lobes, and the right lung has three.  The average American (me included) uses our accessory muscles (the small muscles in between the ribs and the neck muscles) when we breathe in, usually only filling the top lobes of the lungs with air.  This is why when we breathe, it is our chest that rises and falls.  While we seem to be getting the air we need to survive and feel fine, we are failing to use the bottom lobes of our lungs--the lobes that actually have the highest concentration of alveoli and therefore the greatest potential to bring the most oxygen to the body's cells.  

Those who practice deep or diaphragmatic breathing (like Chinese monks) primarily use their diaphragm (layer of muscle under the lungs) when they breathe.  They fill the lower lobes of the lung with air first and it is their abdomen that visibly rises and falls as they breathe.  Essentially, they are getting the most oxygen possible to their body with each breath.
 
Have you ever seen those oxygen booths at malls?  Or heard the claims that getting those boosts of oxygen help prevent illness or speed recovery from it?  Well, it is true.  Getting the optimal amount of oxygen to your body's cells does promote health and prevent disease.  In several functional medicine seminars that Garrett has attended, practitioners have reiterated that before any illness or disease state can be treated effectively or healed, situations that compromise or prevent the body's ability to properly oxygenate (like anemia) need to be reversed.  However, getting a little oxygen boost from a booth is not necessarily needed to prevent illness or speed recovery.  Many people would find similar beneficial results if they practiced deep breathing on a daily basis.  What a novel idea!  We could all be healthier if we just started breathing the way nature intended us to!

Not only does diaphragmatic breathing have the physiologic benefits of getting lots of yummy oxygen to our cells (because I bet that for our cells, oxygen is yummy like a big juicy steak is yummy to me), but in my experience, there are emotional, psychological, and even spiritual benefits as well.  I know it sounds all a little 'woo-wee-woo-wee" weird, but it's true.  I think that those Chinese monks not only get good oxygenation from their efficient breaths, but that they also quiet their minds and get in better tune with themselves through this practice.  You know, like how when the baby rips her diaper off and tracks poop all over the house and you husband tells you to take a few deep breaths?  You know how those deep breaths really do keep you from losing it and kind of have a calming effect??  Imagine if you did this all the time!  Would this solve the problem of overly-busy-and-frustrated moms everywhere!?!  Or would deep breathing help us all to be a little less stressed and more at peace with our lives no matter what the circumstances?  It's a thought!

(Deep breathing on top of a mountain? Yes, please.)

Because making a goal to "only take deep breaths from this day forward" may be a little too ambitious for most, perhaps spending a little time to take deep, abdominal breaths every day would be a good place to start. You can begin this practice in conjunction with meditation, Qigong, or yoga.  And folks, I am preaching to the choir here.  While I do yoga a few times a week, I am a very shallow breather by nature and definitely need to start taking time daily to practice deeper breathing.  Could this be the answer--or at least one of the answers--to my better health??  Maybe.  Besides, I think the free, deep breathing method is much more appealing than the more expensive, oxygen booth method....