Consequences of Shallow Breathing

You'll appreciate why deep breathing is so important for good health and well-being when you understand the long-term consequences of shallow, upper-chest breathing. So lets look at that now.

Breathing oxygenates every cell of your body, from your brain to your vital organs. Without sufficient oxygen, your body becomes more susceptible to all sorts of health problems. For example, in a study published in the Lancet, cardiac patients who took 12-14 shallow breaths per minute (six breaths per minute is considered optimal) were more likely to have low levels of blood oxygen, which "may impair skeletal muscle and metabolic function, and lead to muscle atrophy and exercise intolerance."

In contrast, deep breathing raises levels of blood oxygen, promoting health in many ways, from stimulating the digestive process to improving fitness and mental performance. Heart attacks, cancer, strokes, pneumonia, asthma, speech problems and almost every disease known to mankind is worsened or improved by how well we breathe. Deep breathing also has a direct salutary effect on obesity, since the cleansing, stimulating action of deep breathing improves metabolism and that, in turn, transforms deposits of fat into body fuel and added energy.

To function properly, our brain needs three times more oxygen than the rest of our organs, unless it's provided, the brain tries to get what it needs by drawing on the overall supply we provide through breathing. This is why so many people who sit on their butts all day doing mental work tend to have rundown bodies and a greater susceptibility to sickness and infections than people who lead vigorous lives. Sedentary people are permanently oxygen-starved. It's a condition that can be avoided with proper breathing.

We reach peak respiratory function and lung capacity in our mid-20s. But we start losing that capacity, from 9% to 25% every decade after that. So, unless we do something to maintain or improve our breathing capacity, it will decline, and with it our general health - and life expectancy. As we reach middle age, our lungs tend to become less elastic as years of shallow breathing begin to take their toll. Even the chest has a tendency to grow rigid, and one consequence of this deterioration in function is an accumulation of uric acid in the blood stream. That often leads to those vague, hard to pinpoint pains and general discomfort that doctors usually dismiss as being part of the natural aging process.

Given an optimal diet, the respiratory system should be responsible for eliminating 70% of our metabolic waste. The remainder is eliminated through defecation (3%), urination (8%), and perspiration (19%). This is an aspect of the respiratory process that we don't think about until we encounter someone with a major case of dragon breath. If you think that doing the bathroom thing everyday, and working up a good sweat every now and then, are important and healthy habits, you can imagine how important proper breathing must be.

If you are tired and cranky all the time, it's probably because you're worn-out and depressed from all the toxic gunk that your shallow breathing hasn't gotten out of your system. But don't worry! You will be well on your way to your old happy-go-lucky self as soon as you learn how to breathe properly.

Until next time - Peace.
Loriman Rhodell