Confused About Nutrition

Growing up in Los Angeles, I learned from observing those around me to never let my stomach pour out. This ingrained habit of course affected my breath. Conscious of always keeping my gut in, I did not know what it truly meant to breathe deeply. In my yoga classes, I was told to practice deep breathing from my rib cage. Exhausted after an hour and a half, I’d quickly fall back into shallow inhales the minute I left the room. But then an extraordinary teacher of mine said one day, “ Why do you think Buddha’s belly is always hanging out?” Buddha let his belly flop out so that his diaphragm could drop, allowing him to inhale from the deepest center of his belly. I realized at that moment that for all those years I’d been breathing incorrectly.

Completely consumed with my newfound obsession, I began to look at all the breathing habits around me, judging how well people were breathing. I would stand at the mirror and practice my breathing techniques nightly, but the more I tried, the harder it became to breathe. I found myself getting all choked up, about to pass out, and then needing to start all over again. I couldn’t help but be filled with envy as I looked at all the gorgeous children running around the park who breathed so perfectly and effortlessly, their bellies just rising and falling. How did it become so hard to breathe right? I’ve been breathing since I was born. So where did I go wrong? Babies are born with the intuitive ability to breath perfectly. As aging occurs and we approach our adulthood, we acquire bad breathing habits that inhibit more than just our breathing, but our overall health (http://www.stop-anxiety-attack-symptoms.com/breathing.html). It seems like an oxymoron, but breathing correctly is harder than is sounds in a world where our natural, biological rhythms are easily offset. We learn to hold our tension with our breath, and consequently hold our breath when encountered with stress or fear. When we live our lives with a constant state of stress, we lose touch with letting breath carry us through it. According to breathing coaches, we breathe 15,000-20,000 times a day (http://www.sethpickens.com/articlebreath.htm).

Breathing is considered both an involuntary and voluntary action. We have control of our breath and it is powered by both parts of the Peripheral Nervous System, the Autonomic and Somatic Nervous Systems. But as a voluntary action, we can dictate its flow. When we hold our breath or are not breathing correctly, our bodies kick into the appropriate involuntary (Autonomic) response. High CO2 levels in the blood indicate a lack of oxygen and trigger your intercostals to move your lungs so that you can breathe. As Dr. Andrew Weil notes in his book, Breathing, breath is our only voluntary connection to our involuntary nervous system. The power of tapping into our nervous systems through the breath is a power that all of us have access to, and one that should be taken advantage of considering how easily its natural rhythm can be disrupted. The health benefits of breathing deeply go beyond just increasing our blood’s supply of oxygen. They include dramatically reducing stress levels, reducing depression and anxiety, and improving the cardiovascular and lymphatic systems. Breathing correctly also helps us lose weight by burning fat and increasing our metabolism (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/368554/how_deep_breathing_can_improve_your.html)(http://www.healthadel.com/articles/66/1/Health-Benefits-From-Breathing-Properly/Page1.html). Meditation and its controlled breathing practices are also capable of boosting levels of the brain neurotransmitter serotonin (http://www.spiritualcompetency.com/meditat/lesson8.asp).

So how do we breath correctly? I was taught from a renowned breathing therapist that the trick is to breathe slowly in and out of your nose, controlling the breath’s pace and rhythm. As you inhale, let your body relax and your belly expand as your diaphragm falls and your lungs fill with air. Count for four breaths, and then continue with two more breaths into your rib cage. Exhale slowly for a total of six counts, letting your belly return to its natural position.