Sacred Breath: Giving Ourselves Permission
“The wisest one-word sentence? Breathe.”
~Terri Guillemets
Breathing is the channel through which the human body is designed to discharge 70% of its toxins. The smaller percentage of toxins are discharged through sweat, defecation, and urination. We don’t rid our bodies of toxins properly when we aren’t breathing properly; this means really filling our belly and lungs and fully exhaling, slowly and deeply enough to receive the oxygen that we truly need to function at full capacity.
We tend to forget and “outgrow” the full belly breathing that was so natural for us as babies. We can reclaim a major foundation of our health simply by relearning how to breathe by first becoming aware of our breathing patterns to see how often we actually hold our breath and checking in with our bodies throughout the day.
In daily modern life, anxiety, stress, and trauma overstimulate the sympathetic nervous system (a system meant to be stimulated for only minutes at a time) on a consistent, on-going basis. We have become shallow chest breathers, just getting by with enough oxygen to survive while holding our bodies rigid.
Breathing affects our respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological, gastrointestinal, muscular, and psychic systems. It affects our sleep, memory, concentration, and energy levels.
Dropping our breath down to deep diaphragmatic (belly) breathing makes a huge difference and helps to re-program our nervous systems away from chronic stress.
The diaphragm muscle is located just below the lungs and, like any muscle, becomes weak when it is underused. Instead, we overuse the secondary breathing muscles located in the neck and the back causing imbalances and leading to neck and back issues and tension headaches. Eventually they can build up and surprise us with a pulled muscle that we didn’t see coming.
It is also a foundational “core” muscle. It is the beginning point for core healing and strength. Both the diaphragm and pelvic floor work in tandem and are both toned during diaphragmatic breath. If we don’t use our diaphragms regularly while breathing, we don’t build foundational core strength. Proper breathing is essential to the natural course of laboring and birthing. It builds deep core muscle strength which aids mothers during pregnancy and postpartum recovery.
Breath plays a major role in the functioning of the immune system; in fact, improper breathing is a common cause of ill health and, in some cases, life-threatening disease. Medical research reports the prime cause of 1.5 million heart attacks each year is hypoxia (a lack of oxygen). Scientists have confirmed that a key precursor of cancer is a lack of oxygen at the cellular level.
It takes time to correct our breathing habits and develop the diaphragm muscle but, with repetition and consistency, you will feel the difference. Try this lying on your back with you knees up and soles of your feet down on any surface, just before you go to sleep. Repeat each 10-20x.
MAKE NOTE: If you get lightheaded, dizzy, or nauseous, this is a sign of detoxification and lets you know that your body really needs this. Just back off and take a drink of water. Return to the breathing when you feel clear again.
Place your hands on your belly, inhale through your nose, filling your belly like a balloon.
Exhale fully through your nose or relaxed mouth.
Place your hands on the sides of your ribs.
Inhale deeply, expanding your ribs out sideways; avoid your chest rising.
Exhale fully.
See what happens when you give yourself permission to take up some space and time and really BREATHE.
Sources:
James Goodlatte, Fit For Birth
The Breathing Book by Donna Farhi
Conscious Breathing by Gay Hendricks, PhD
Oxygen Healing Therapies by Nathaniel Altman
Dr. W. Spencer Way from Journal of the American Association of Physicians
