I’ve come to the realization that I’m a lousy breather. Most likely you are too…

It sounds so simple. This spontaneous involuntary function of taking in and giving out of air from the lungs. Most of us have managed to mess it up. Shame.As children we are naturals at using deep abdominal breathing. As we progress through the years we naturally become shallow chest breathers. Sometimes we pick up nasty habits like constantly sucking in our tummies so we look svelte and camera ready (I’m guilty). Or it happens after we sustain a physical trauma that makes it hurt to take a full breath. Sometimes we suffer through mental stress, anxiety or fear which causes us to tense up and scarcely breathe (inherited that one from my mom). Then we simply forget to return to a more optimal breathing pattern.

Poor breathing patterns can seriously affect your physical health as well as your mental and emotional wellbeing. Did you know that 70% of our daily metabolic waste is eliminated just by breathing! The remaining 19% is eliminated through perspiration, 3% through defecation, and 8% in our urine.

What? You would never know that with all the emphasis being on sweating out the toxins, upping our fiber intake and the constant drama about what, where and how we drink our water. You would never think that breathing trumps all of these in toxin removal. Breathing! It’s free… It’s mobile… No electricity or batteries required…

Did you know that every 24 hours we breathe approximately twenty thousand times? During sessions of extreme exercise our lungs and our bodies can breathe in and very easily process over two hundred liters of air a minute. Our bodies are also capable of surviving with just a few liters of air being processed in our lungs every minute.

Shallow breathers rarely use the lower lobes of the lungs where most of our blood circulation lies. The blood flow at the bottom of our lungs is over a liter per minute. Whereas the top of our lungs (where most of us shallow breathers are breathing) is less than a tenth of a liter per minute.

Breathing affects virtually every part of the body it is vital for our immune, circulatory, endocrine and nervous systems. It oxygenates the body, revitalizing organs, cells and tissues. Breathing properly:

• Fuels energy production

• Improves focus and concentration

• Eliminates toxins

• Strengthens the immune system

• Improves bowel function

• Reduces stress, tension and anxiety

• Increases feelings of calmness and relaxation

• Can lower blood pressure

• Increases metabolism, aiding in digestion and weight loss.

Improper breathing can produce a variety of symptoms that affect our body such as:

• Mental fog

• Dizziness

• Numbness

• Anxiety

• Chest pain

• Digestive problems

• Irritable bowel

• Neck and shoulder pain

Simple breathing exercises have been found to be effective in reducing general anxiety disorders, depression, irritability, muscle tension, headaches, poor concentration and fatigue. Just think of how many over the counter and prescription drugs we take to alleviate these symptoms every day.