I am barely breathing
In the feature film, Ever After, Drew Barrymore’s character freezes
at a crucial life-changing moment, anticipating what’s about to happen. She is
paralyzed with fear and is reduced to her most basic instincts. She closes her
eyes, and softly whispers to herself, "Just breathe." It’s worth noting: when our mental and reasoning capabilities
fail, we find ourselves at the mercy of our bodies’ most elemental functions.
Of those functions, none is more essential than breathing. You could say that
breathing is life. Unfortunately, breath awareness seems most prevalent in moments of
fear or panic. It is not until our hearts pound and our lungs jump that we
notice our shortened inhale, followed by our hollow exhale. Fortunately, the importance of breathing is gaining recognition,
with the increased popularity of mind/body exercises such as yoga, Pilates, and
stretching. All of these practices focus on the fundamentals of breathing. People who regularly run, bike or swim are also aware of the
necessity of conscious breathing. But whether you are active or inactive, you
can benefit from the transforming experience of putting your lungs to work.
What exactly is conscious breathing? It’s really just another term for deep
breathing. Breathing deeply and slowly for five minutes each day is one of the
most effective ways to receive the full benefits of our amazing respiratory
system, while minimizing stress. It is at the heart of relaxation, offering a
surprisingly simple option for physical and psychological self-healing.
Breathing in, we flood our bodies with the vital oxygen our red blood cells
need to function optimally. Breathing out, we rid ourselves of carbon dioxide
waste. I once heard breathing referred to as the preventive medicine of the
21st century. Conscious breathing energizes the body, calms the emotions, and sharpens the
mind, providing our bodies with a natural source of alertness, vitality, and
health. Researchers say it also slows the loss of vital lung capacity that
often accompanies aging. As you breathe in fresh oxygen, you bring vital
resources to the cells of the body and preserve the elasticity of lung tissue.
You protect your capacity to live life fully. At the same time, production of
carbon dioxide mounts as cells flush out waste products. Full exhalation
releases spent resources that linger in the base of the lungs. When you breathe
with awareness, each breath unites you with the power of life that surrounds
and sustains you.
Each of us breathes somewhere in the vicinity of 17,000 times
every day, but very few of those breaths are deep, slow, effective breaths that
can improve the function of our lungs, organs, and circulatory system, all the
way down to the cellular level. What’s more, not only is effective deep breathing advantageous,
but too-shallow breathing (the way most of us breathe, most of the time) has
been linked to physical ills such as headaches and high blood pressure.
Researchers have also found that shallow, rapid breathing can trigger our
nervous system’s flight-or-fight response, which can make us feel anxious and
exhausted. Besides enhancing our day-to-day health, conscious deep breathing
can help us tap into what’s going on inside of us—wants, needs, the small but
wise voice that is often drowned out in the noise of everyday life.
(photo by Toni Frissell)
(photo by Toni Frissell)
