The Critical Role Breathing Plays In Health And Longevity
Today’s Topic Highlights:
Breathing is the most important function of the human body. We can go weeks without food and days without water, but only a few minutes without oxygen.
Despite its critical importance to our health, most people unknowingly live day to day with a faulty breathing pattern.
Contrary to what many believe, proper breathing actually comes naturally to us as children. This means that learning to breathe correctly is an act of reclaiming what we once had, not the acquisition of a new skill.
Proper baseline breathing has three key characteristics: calm, slow, and quiet.
Once proper baseline breathing is established, you’re ready for the next step: diaphragmatic breathing. Diaphragmatic breathing is distinguished by depth, which is facilitated by two primary actions: inhalation through the nose and expansion of the belly.
Breathing is our most fundamental physiological function. It governs or influences every system of the body. Breathing is so critical to survival that it supersedes all other functions. We can go weeks without food and days without water. Yet just 5-10 minutes without oxygen can incur severe brain damage or even death.
When we breathe correctly, our bodies relax. Our mind becomes less chaotic, our thoughts become more controlled, our emotions become more stable, and our quality of life becomes more enjoyable. Self-control is closely tied to breath control.
Stress management in particular is nearly impossible without adequate oxygen intake. Consider the fact that the brain uses roughly 20% of the body’s oxygen supply to run conscious and unconscious bodily functions. The amount of oxygen we breathe in has an enormous and direct impact on brain function. This makes proper breathing the precursor to, and lynchpin of, all other forms of stress control.
Most people unknowingly live day to day with a faulty breathing pattern. It’s a predictable and almost unavoidable consequence of our high stress modern society. Social media induced anxiety, extreme political polarization, information addiction, and long hours of often unfulfilling work are hallmarks of today’s era. None of this is conducive to inner peace. As a result, the sympathetic branch of our nervous system (fight-or-flight) is constantly overwhelmed and vigilant to perceived social threats. Stressful breathing is an inescapable outgrowth of this chaos.
There is a strange paradox in this. Most of our day to day lives are spent in physically safe, maximally comfortable states of minimal activity. Our survival needs are generally met, physical confrontations are rare, and entertainment options are endless. On paper this looks like the perfect recipe for a stress free lifestyle. But the reality is the opposite. People are still stressed out.
Contrary to what many believe, proper breathing actually comes naturally to us as children. What happens is that over time it progressively distorts under the weight of negative environmental influences and digital sensory bombardment. Any perceived threat, problem, or agitation will unconsciously alter the natural flow of breath. This means that learning to breathe correctly is an act of reclaiming what we once had, not the acquisition of a new skill.