The Science of Deep Breathing
Those of you who’ve attended my classes know very well that I always like to mention that if you take home only one main thing from my instruction, that one thing should be ‘the deep yogi breathing’ due to its many benefits to our overall physical, mental, emotional and even spiritual health.
In addition to, or better yet in combination with the deep yogi breathing, I like to suggest as the second best tool to take home with you, ‘proper spine alignment’: a straight posture. That is because our ability to fill our lungs to their optimal capacity depends so much on the alignment of our spine. It is as if two balloons were inside a small wooden box, in spite of how much air it is blown into those balloons their potential size will always be compromised by the size within which those balloons are cased in. Very much the same is what happens with our lungs. If our rib cage is all contracted and curved in, it doesn’t matter how much air we try to get into our lungs, they will remain constricted by the limitations imposed by our curved-in posture. Thus, if you wish to get the full benefit of your full yogi breath don’t forget about your optimal posture. The two go hand in hand and intrinsically affect one another.
Yesterday, I was listening to a radio show and I was pleasantly surprised to hear about new studies and results released on the power of the full yogi breath and its many benefits to our overall health; and furthermore as a potential tool for disease control and prevention. In the program there was reference made to this article from the New York Times which you may read by clicking on this link: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/09/well/mind/breathe-exhale-repeat-the-benefits-of-controlled-breathing.html?_r=0 . http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/09/well/mind/breathe-exhale-repeat-the-benefits-of-controlled-breathing.html?_r=0
I thought: “this is great!” Needless to say, I love the information covered in the above link. I am so excited to have more science backup the wisdom behind the yogi teachings. I encourage you to please read this article to find out more about the science behind this all-important deep and controlled breathing as opposed to the shallow breathing we are all so used to engage in daily. And if you are still not fully convinced move on to read this next link, which will provide further information to support the easy life-supporting tool of taking a deep breath:
I hope that you are able to gather enough evidence from this readings to convince you to gradually retrain your body to start taking full yogi breaths and to work towards increasing your lung capacity so that you may also enjoy the many benefits this extra oxygen supply can give to your organs, to your cells, to your brain and to your overall physical and mental performance and well-being.
May you reap the fruits of engaging in the natural and simple practice of taking deep and full yogi breaths!
No Comments