Learning to breathe correctly is a critical factor in enjoying better health

The Importance of Breathing

By Aaron Hoopes

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If I had to limit my advice on healthier living to just one tip, it would be simply to learn how to breathe correctly.
-Andrew Weil, M.D.

Ancient stories tell of a long-lost fountain hidden away in some remote, forgotten corner of the world. This mythical fountain was reported to flow with magical elixir that cured illness and granted the drinker eternal youth. The driving force behind much of Ponce de Leon's exploration was his obsession with tales of the Fountain of Youth. The idea of living longer has often become a focus for many people as they begin to grow older and feel the effects of age and their inevitable mortality. Recently we have been bombarded with remedies both old and new which claim to extend life. From new improved chemical supplements to chocolate and even laughter, it seems as if everyone has a special method for prolonging life. However, letting the body do what is natural is most often the best method for achieving any goal. Unfortunately, the simple, natural and most beneficial method is often the most neglected as we continue to search for immortality.
Breathing is fundamental to human existence. The human body can survive without food for days or even weeks. It can survive without water for two or three days. However, without oxygen, we die in minutes. The incongruity is that people spend a great part of their lives concerned with eating and drinking yet, for the most part, pay very little attention to their breathing.

Learning to breathe correctly is a conscious lifestyle choice that is beneficial to the health of the body. If you are truly concerned with your health and genuinely want to care for your body, you are missing a major if not critical opportunity to satisfy these concerns if you fail to learn how to breathe properly and effectively.

This concept is basic. By learning breathing exercises and practicing them whenever you get an opportunity, your body becomes infused with more oxygen and vital energy. It begins to feel better. As you feel better you start to breathe easier and fuller, which in turn brings in even more oxygen and energy. It is a positive upwards spiral created simply by breathing consciously. Your body wants to breathe more, all you have to do is let it.

Think of your circulatory system. You take in oxygen from the air you breathe. The oxygen enters your bloodstream and creates oxygen-rich blood that flows through your veins where it liberates the energy in the food you ingest and collects the toxins and poisons generated through your everyday living and expels them as CO2. It stands to reason that more oxygen would give you more energy-producing, oxygen-rich blood, and the use of more lung capacity would enable you to expel more toxins and poisons, especially those lurking in the lower two-thirds of your lungs. This kind of maximization of oxygen intake is what you can achieve through what is called conscious breathing. I call it smart breathing.
Don’t, by the way, confuse smart breathing with hyperventilation, which is abnormally rapid breathing which results in an excessive loss of carbon dioxide from the blood and is distinctly not good for you. Conscious breathing is inherently slow and deep.

And practicing it improves your health and your feeling of well-being, increases your basic supply of energy, and expels the toxins from your system more effectively.
It may sound simplistic, and in fact, it is. You can feel better and healthier with no investment of money and little investment of time. Give breathing more importance in your life and you will soon discover that you may just be tapping into that magical elixir of energy.

Aaron Hoopes is an instructor, holistic healer and the author of Breathe Smart: The Secret to Happiness, Health and Long Life. He is the founder of Zen Yoga, a spiritual art combining tai chi, yoga, and qigong breathing for health and vitality. Please visit www.artofzenyoga.com for more information.