Check it out! Sit on a chair. Place one hand on the belly and one hand on the chest.
Breathe
Is something moving under your hands? In the chest? In the belly? No movements? Shoulders rise?
If you are one of those who inflated their chest and shoulders rose, maybe because you have this image in your mind about healthy breathing, the kind you see in commercials for something healthy, then it's time for a change! This is not proper breathing.
Breathing is life and the source of life well-being. Although this action is common, the daily action that accompanies us from the moment we are born, is such an important but somewhat forgotten action from our consciousness.
Like many other things in our lives, we start waking up and looking for solutions only after the problems arise...
So what happens if I breathe incorrectly?
Although very shallow breathing will provide the minimum necessary for our existence, do not worry, but it will affect many systems in our bodies in a way that you may not even have thought of.
* Please note before you proceed: I am not claiming for a moment that the problems mentioned below are only related to incorrect breathing. There are lots of reasons for every problem or illness but incorrect breathing affects health and we can change that. Good News: Most of us have a room for improvement!
Suffering from constipation? Did you know that proper breathing provides the massage and mobility needed for your digestive system to function fully efficiently? Stagnation is a quiet enemy that should not be underestimated. So what makes breathing particularly superficial? This will be seen later.
Kidney issues? Exactly the same reason. Did you know that with proper breathing, the kidneys move about 12 km ups and down in a day? So if you shorten the daily trip of the internal organs, do you think it has no consequences?
Lower back pain? Yes!!! It's related to! How? When the spine is not at its optimal length, the diaphragm,(which is the main muscle that drives your breathing movement), cannot move properly, so you have created two problems with a blow, over pressure on the lumbar vertebrae’s and no proper breathing.
Tendency to kyphosis (arched upper back) and drooping shoulders? Familiar with this feeling when you are constantly reminded to stand up straight? So here it works like in the chicken or the egg causality dilemma... as long as you stand hunched over, proper breathing cannot exist and the problem only grows because the breathing makes its way where it finds a place, in this case, your upper back. Gradually and with great patience, the breath will shape your posture but not quite as you wished. Having no choice, it will only aggravate your body posture, just as the waves of the sea gnaw at the cliffs, slowly but surely...
Pelvic floor problems? Urinary incontinence? Also related! Again, when the diaphragm can’t move freely, breathing creates excess pressure of the internal organs on your pelvic floor and this is true for women and men! (Although women suffer from pelvic floor problems on average more than men because of the presence of the vagina). The pelvic floor hammock is a muscular system at the bottom of the pelvis and should not carry any weight on it. It should move in coordination with your diaphragm and create, among other functions, a protective hammock and not a landing floor!
So how to breathe properly?
Dr. de Gasquet first sentence about breathing is: "Breathing is affected by the body posture”
An important, simple and logical rule for proper breathing: CREATE SPACE! A place for the diaphragm to move with a full range of motion, with no obstructions on the way. If it moves properly, contracts and relaxes properly, you will immediately feel that your breathing is right, flowing freely and it will affect your health! In practice, we will maintain a spine of optimal length, from the tailbone to the apex of the head. It does not matter if you are standing, lying down, sitting, in the gym or in the middle of a yoga practice, you can maintain a spine of optimal length and allow a proper breathing (* provided of course, that there are no other medical conditions that affect your breathing)
Are you experiencing stress?
Proper breathing will allow you to relax. Proper breathing can be slowed down in a controlled manner and thus stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system responsible for calming down the body systems that need it.
Not focused enough?
Practicing with proper breathing will help us focus on the present moment. There are breathing exercises specific to this in yoga, such as Ujjay (Victor breathing). You can also count the breaths, count the duration of the inhalation and exhalation and find many other proper breathing exercises to help you focusing.
“For breath is life, so if you breathe well you will live long on earth.”
(Proverb in Sanskrit)
The way to proper breathing?
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