Life - Giving Breath
The difference between good and bad health often lies in a fact we don't even think about, something we usually take for granted... something we typically forget is a huge part of us:
The fact that we must be able to breathe to be alive.
I was recently watching a drama series about medical care. Throughout the many seasons of the show, characters of varying ages were depicted suffering from respiratory infections and lung cancer. The series is set in the late 1950s through the 1960s, and it has been fascinating to watch medical professionals navigate the care of their patients in a time when technology and treatments were nowhere near as advanced as they are today.
Often, a character on the show is a suffering patient who has been downplaying their illness... or altogether keeping their diagnosis a secret from their loved ones to avoid bringing stress and heartache. When examined by the doctor, the patient struggling to breathe is urged to stop smoking cigarettes so the remainder of their life can be enjoyable, meaningful, and comfortable. While discussing the intense emotional pain their death would cause their loved ones, some of these characters continue to smoke, choosing not to pursue a healthier lifestyle to spend the peaceful and happy end of days with their family members.
I have suffered with asthma for many years. In my youth, my parents didn't believe in obtaining a prescription inhaler from the doctor. They were afraid I would rely heavily on the medicine and not be able to enjoy a quality of life without it. I was nearly 30 when I asked a doctor for my first albuterol inhaler. Unfortunately, I was not given any special pulmonary tests or exams then. When I got sick in late 2019 and found myself in the asthma doctor's office every week for six weeks, I was administered multiple tests and prescribed a more intense dose of medication in 2 different inhalers. The discharge paperwork at my first appointment showed that I had the lungs of an 84-year-old and warned that I might develop COPD or another severe lung condition.
I wanted to find someone to blame. I felt like nobody had ever taken good care of me when they had the opportunity. I felt resentful of my parents, furious at the doctors for not helping me prevent such a severe diagnosis, and mournful about myself not pursuing my lung health when I left home at age 19. During the pandemic, I grieved my awful situation instead of becoming knowledgeable in truths about breathing. A few years later, I finally felt I could pursue better lung health and enjoy much better overall health.
I previously mentioned my study of 'The Holistic Therapy File,' a book by Jane Alexander. It's full of holistic practices and remedies that resonate as truths within my whole self. As I read, I often practice the techniques shared in the book. I learned that the average person breathes 16 times per minute, yet our bodies don't need to breathe that many times in 60 seconds. The two main breathing techniques mentioned come from the Eastern practices of Ayurvedic and Chi Kung (We may know Chi Kung as 'Chi Gong' or 'Qi Gong'). I won't share how to do the breathing in this article, but I hope you are interested in pursuing it. It can change your health and your life!
During my morning commute, I was pleased to see how calm and alert I felt while practicing healthier breathing. In the book, I learned that to improve my health, I must practice and establish good breathing. As with anything in my life, if I am going to care enough about this healthy choice, I need to understand why it matters.
The more oxygen we can send inside our bodies, the better our bodies will be. We likely don't even think about what is happening when we inhale. As I've lovingly nicknamed the book, the HT File taught me that I bring food to my brain each inhale. I'm also calming my nerves and decreasing my heart rate. (Does your heart ever race when you're just resting? It should not be doing that!) With this breath, I'm also bringing my blood pressure to an average level, as well as lowering my risk of heart disease.
What are the main things our doctor often encourages us to manage? Stress levels! Stress can cause unhealthy blood pressure and heart conditions. We don't need a prescription for breathing. We can take it --as medicine-- anytime. Isn't that beautiful?
Other benefits of healthier breathing include better moods, contracting less contagious sicknesses, or shortening the duration of colds/flu/infections. Essentially, the better I breathe, the more effectively I am clearing my body of waste that doesn't need to live inside me. Why should I hold onto junk that can make me sick?
We should be able to take in 3 times more oxygen than we do. With shallow breathing, we are expelling some waste gases and toxins, but not all the toxins we could if we were to breath more deeply. We also risk losing essential elasticity in the lower portion of our lungs by shallow breathing. I now know that I transport vital energy around my body when practicing good breathing. I can boost this robust process further by "visualizing health-giving energy flooding into [my] lungs" (J. Alexander, page 81) and my whole body as I inhale. I can then visualize stale and used-up energy exiting my body when I exhale. I love this because I can actually 'see' and feel myself becoming healthier and purer on the inside. I encourage everyone to choose to breathe healthier, life-giving breath starting today.
Let's give ourselves more Life and see how far we can go.
By Kaari Branham
