Deep Breathing

Deep breathing, or abdominal breathing - as it is sometimes called - is the kind of breathing we were all born "knowing" how to do. It is done using the diaphragm to move air in and out of the lungs, which causes the abdomen (the stomach or belly) to expand and contract a bit during the process. Which is why people who insist on being technical about it also refer to it as diaphragmatic breathing. And since the diaphragm is that sheet of muscle between the chest and abdominal cavities that makes deep breathing possible, they are technically right. But, right or not, "diaphragmatic breathing" doesn't quite roll off the tongue as easily as "deep breathing."

Of the five essential processes necessary for survival -

• Breathing
• Eating
  
• Moving
• Resting
• Cleansing

- none is more important than breathing, for obvious reasons. Just try not breathing for more than a few minutes - what happens? You pass out, that's what - and your body, thinking that you must have lost your mind, starts breathing for you. Awake or asleep, conscious or not, most of us breathe more than 20,000 times a day, every day of our lives. We do it believing that the way we breathe is natural because it is done without thought and usually without much effort. But, it has been estimated - by the people who estimate these things - that at least 95 percent of us are "shallow breathers," who only use a small part of our total lung capacity. Which means that most people, and that may include you, are missing out on the fantastic benefits that deep breathing provides. So let's start this journey to extraordinary fitness by understanding the importance of proper, i.e., deep breathing.

So what's wrong with the upper-chest, shallow breathing that most of us routinely do? Well, for starters, people with shallow breathing habits don't live as long as people who are deep breathers. (How's that for an attention getter?) One of the findings from the Framingham study, a clinical study that observed a group of 5,200 over a 30-year period showed that "pulmonary function measurement (or how well a person breathes) is an indicator of general health and vigor (fitness) and is literally, the primary measure of potential life span." In other words, there is substantial evidence that the most significant factor in long-term good health and a long life is how well you breathe.

That's probably why Dr. Andrew Weil, the alternative health icon who has written all those best-selling books on how to stay healthy, says that if he could give one tip for better health, it would be to breathe properly. I will write about some the long-term negative consequences of shallow, upper-chest breathing, as well as the benefits of deep breathing, in my next post in a day or two. After that I will tell you how to do it so you can make it part of your daily routine, establishing it as a life-long, life-sustaining habit.

Until then, Be Well.
Loriman Rhodell

Extraordinary fitness for ordinary people

This blog is dedicated to ordinary people who want to achieve an extraordinary level of fitness.

In my future posts I will share knowledge gathered over the years about what it takes to be healthy and fit, including details about practices that I know from experience to actually work, that can be made part of everyday life; practices that have transformed ordinary people - people that I know - into paragons of health and fitness.

The level of your physical fitness depends upon five essential and inter-related processes: Breathing, Eating, Moving, Resting, and Cleansing. We do them all every day. If we didn't, we certainly wouldn't live very long. But, it's how well we do them that both determines, and reflects, how fit we are. My primary reason for writing this blog is to identify and share many of those practices.

If you've never been physically active, starting now may be difficult. Usually it's the inertia that comes from long periods of inactivity that's the problem. So I'll explore ways of dealing with that and other stumbling blocks that you're likely to encounter along the way in future postings.

Ready to get started? We'll start with "Breathing" in my next post.

Loriman Rhodell