Living Air is a Link to Life

"And God formed man from the dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." -Book of Genesis

To Catch Our Breath is to Find Ourselves

Living air summoned us into this world and at its loss we take our leave. The life is in the blood only if the breath is in it. There is nothing we do that is more primal than breathing. There is nothing it does not affect.

Like our mind, it is completely automatic yet within our control. And so it is a link between our conscious and our unconscious. Breathing deeply and evenly, therefore, expands our consciousness of our inner selves. It helps us to retrieve parts of ourselves that have been lost or find places in us that have never been discovered.

Why Breath Deep?

• It helps to prevent stiffness in the rib cage that prevents fresh oxygen from our blood stream. Of course, stiffness encourages rapid, shallow breathing, which makes us more stiff and so on.
• It relieves stress and tension and helps us cope and relax. Pregnant mothers effectively relax taking slow, deep abdominal breaths during contractions.
• It helps us manage and decrease pain.
• It encourages creativity.
• It increases athletic performance.
• It changes our chemistry.
• It improves and clarifies our thinking.

Some Breathing Rituals

1. Slowly take a deep breath. Slowly exhale. Try to take less than 10 breaths in a minute. Research suggests breathing like this for a few minutes a day can help nudge down bad blood pressure.
2. Go outside in the fresh air and take 20 slow, deep, abdominal breaths at a break in work, after each meal, or just before bed. This will relax and uplift the mood.

The Key To Breathing Living Air

The key to deep breathing is to breathe deeply from the abdomen, getting as much fresh air as possible in your lungs. When you take deep breaths from the abdomen, rather than shallow breaths from your upper chest, you inhale more oxygen. The more oxygen you get, the less tense, short of breath, and anxious you feel. So the next time you feel stressed, take a minute to slow down and breathe deeply:

1. Sit straight up with one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach.
2. When you breathe in, the hand on your stomach should rise. But the hand on your chest should not move much at all.
3. As you exhale and contract your abdominal muscles, the hand on your stomach should fall with very little movement of the other one.

Practice this until it becomes natural to breathe like this.

Living Air is a Link to Life

As our breath is an inescapable reflection of our life, so our life is the inevitable expression of our breath. We cannot change one without changing the other.

About this Author

Health cures have been the author's long-time passion. Sickness is not our legacy. The most powerful healing is simple and affordable. Brent lives near Portland, Oregon and is a massage therapist that enjoys writing and outdoor sports.

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