Understanding Your Breath

Do you know how long you can survive without a breath?

We take our breath for granted, most of the time not thinking much about it at all until we are out of breath or having pain with breathing. You can survive up to about a month or so without eating, you could survive up to a week without drinking, but your breath only 2-3 minutes tops!

Our breathing process is regulated by our autonomic nervous system. Breathing is right there along with our blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature, all vital functions of our body. One big difference with breathing is that you also can control your breath intentionally which in turn helps regulate all the other vital functions of the body.

Breathing also affects our thoughts, emotions, as well as our reactions to the experiences we encounter. We can utilize the breath as a wonderful tool to get more oxygen to different parts of our body that may be deprived of vital energy. We can also use it to open up blocked energy in the nadi’s. (Nadi is a Sanskrit word which translates as ‘tube,’ or ‘channel’, there are three principal “nadis” in the body which go through the spinal cord.) These techniques of breathwork are used in Ayurveda medicine, Chinese medicine, and Yoga.

Using Breathing techniques with meditation helps control our thoughts and emotions by regulating our breath to quiet our mind and feel what is real, not the made-up stories we keep telling ourselves based on our fears and worries. These profound techniques enable us to observe without preconceptions or attachments, but with deeper insight, higher intelligence, or wisdom. And that is how yoga works.

Living healthy and with vitality doesn’t need to be made difficult. Improving your life can be made simple!