By Cindy MacNeil Sola.
The Breath of Life
Breathing {noun}: the act of taking air into and expelling it from the lungs.
Relaxation {noun}: the state of being free from tension and anxiety.
Both of those words sound wonderful. But did you know they’re related?
All of us breathe every day. Most of us try to relax every day. But few of us really think about either of those activities. Many of us only think about breathing if we struggle with allergies, asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia or COPD. Those conditions cause us physical discomfort and anxiety. Being short of breath for long periods of time is frightening. Because suffering from those conditions is awful, that’s when breathing gets our attention. Sometimes when we concentrate or feel stressed, we tend to take a deep breath in and not let it out for a while. We do this because our bodies are trying to tell us something.
Otherwise, we don’t think about our respiratory systems and what it can do for us. Our breathing system has muscles that work every minute of every day. When we inhale, oxygen is passed to our blood, pumped through our bodies, and delivered to all our cells. When we breath out, we exhale carbon dioxide. Job done, right? This is what our bodies are supposed to do, right?
In this stressful time of Covid-19, day-to-day events such as working from home while teaching your children school lessons — or losing a job and incurring the financial pressures of buying food and making mortgage, car and other payments — it’s the holiday, this provokes stress and anxiety. Plus, it’s gotten cold outside. You can’t be with family members, neighbors or friends. That causes more anxiety. Sometimes you don’t even realize how much stress you are under, even when you’re in it.
Breathe. Believe it or not, it helps. It calms your brain and your body. Nice deep breaths allow the body to fully exchange incoming oxygen and outgoing carbon dioxide and other toxins. That slows the heartbeat, lowers blood pressure, and lowers stress.
Yoga was the first discipline to incorporate breathing control. Now every relaxation technique – Meditation, Yoga, Reiki – all focus on breathing in different ways. If you concentrate on taking just three deep, slow breaths, being mindful of each one, you’ll be amazed at how the body responds as you calm your nervous system and relax the muscles.
Breathing correctly improves our mood, keeps our energy levels up so we do our best, and can help us live longer, it makes our heart stronger, improves the capacity of our lungs, calms our nervous system, helps regulate blood pressure. It improves digestion, helps cells regenerate, boots energy levels and stamina, and elevates our moods. Controlled breathing also strengthens and tones the abdominal muscles, strengthens the immune system by supplying more oxygen to hemoglobin in red blood cells, and enriches our bodies helping to metabolize more nutrients and vitamins.
Whether they choose Reiki, guided meditation, or exercises to relieve stress and anxiety and to ground yourself, I always have my clients do controlled breathing at the start of each session. I try to have them practice controlled breathing each day.
Try it: Sit or lie down in a quiet, comfortable place. inhale through your nose while expanding the belly. Hold it a few seconds and feel your lungs full of that wonderful oxygen. Exhale fully through the mouth and feel all the toxins being released from your body. Do that three times. As you go back to normal breathing your body will start to relax. You’ll feel cradled and safe. Put aside five minutes to do that each day, and you’ll experience a difference in your energy levels and your mood. If you’re having a stressful day, stop. Take a minute and just breathe. After four to five weeks of doing that, you’ll find anxiety and depressive symptoms will significantly decrease.
Please note: Controlled breathing is not a replacement for medication or any other therapies that might be prescribed by your doctor. But in conjunction with other treatments, it will certainly help improve the way you feel and live.
So, when you feel your shoulders tighten and your head feels like it’s going to explode, breathe…
Cindy MacNeil Sola is the owner of Spirit and Balance, LLC, located in Higganum, CT.
