Do you breath enough? - Life hack

Do you breath enough?

Weird question, right? Well… not so weird as you might think.

A long time ago, when I was 17… I first ran across the idea of breathing exercises. It seemed weird at first, I mean, if you are alive you should be breathing just fine, no?

It took a few minutes to discover that was not true.

I started a simple breathing exercise only to get all dizzy after a few rounds. My brain was obviously not use to so much oxygen ;) .

After training for a while, I could exercise to my lungs’ content and I would not get dizzy any more.

This clarified something very important to me (Even at that young age): Bodily functions don’t always function at their best level just because you are alive. 

So….

What do you think? do you breath enough? 

How can you tell?

The simplest way is to notice how often you stop and yawn or take a deep breath automatically during the day. When we don't breath enough our body can "take over" and make us breath deeper. It does so for brief spells but if you take heed you can notice this. Once in a long while such a reaction is of no consequence but if it happens several times a day, it is a sure sign you want to breath more.

Another way to tell is to exercise your breathing - and challenge yourself at it. If you quickly find yourself dizzy - you need more!

It is important to note here that I am not talking about extreme medical oxygen deprivation - the kind an oximeter is used to check. I am talking here about that subtler situation we can get away with for years and pay a much more gentle price for.

So what is the price?

I find that the energy level for most people I check (Chinese pulse shows it clearly) is at best at 50% of their capacity. This means something is wrong. I will discuss energy in general in another post but breathing is a very central pillar for your energy levels.

All holistic medical practices I know agree about one very important fact - low energy levels = low health levels. Our vitality effects our functionality. We digest less, we remove our toxins less efficiently, we move less for lack of strength etc.

What can we do about it? 

Practice breathing exercises of course!

here is an example of one:

I call this exercise 1:4:2. simply because that is the ratio we will be using.

we will inhale for X seconds (Say 5 seconds)

Hold our breath for 4X (Say 20 seconds)

We will exhale for 2X (Say 10 seconds)

Repeat this ten times in a row for one session. I suggest three sessions a day for beginners at least till you notice you experience less spontaneous  deep breaths throughout your day.

Start with X = whatever you can handle without over straining yourself. (Just like in any sport). If you find it hard to complete the round of the session - reduce the count till you are ready for more.