Study Smarter, Not Harder, Keving Paul, MA, Page 40-41

“One thing all living human beings have in common is breathing. Breath is the essence of life. Breathing is so automatic that we never think much about it until something gets in the way of our breathing. It is so simple, yet most people do it wrong.

Obviously, if you’re alive, then you are breathing well enough to get by, but you could be doing much better. And it is important to do better because your brain is very sensitive to the quality of your breathing.

The brain accounts for approximately 2% of the body’s weight, but it uses around 20% of the oxygen you take in. The better you are at providing the brain with its basic fuel, the better the performance you will get out of that engine.

The biggest breathing mistake people make is that they breathe too rapidly and too shallowly—ordinary 15 to 22 times per minute. Breathing that quickly means that you could be using as little as one-sixth of your lungs’ intake and distribution capacities.

It is possible to train yourself to take only five to six calm, full breaths in a minute. The overall result of this kind of breathing will be increased general health, improved alertness, an enhanced immune system, greatly reduced anxiety, and a surprising change for the better in your level of concentration.

The basic principles are to inhale slowly and deeply, filling your lungs as completely as possible, and then to exhale the same way, expelling all the waste products and distributing the oxygen you’ve retained. This kind of breathing also works the diaphragm and, consequently, massages several internal organs.”

A New Earth, Awakening to your Life’s Purpose, Eckhart Tolle, Page 244

“Someone recently showed me the annual prospectus of a large spiritual organization. When I looked through it, I was impressed by the wide choice of interesting seminars and workshops. It reminded me of a smorgasbord, one of those Scandinavian buffets where you can take your pick from a huge variety of enticing dishes. The person asked me whether I could recommend one or two courses. “I don’t know,” I said. “They all look so interesting. But I do know this,” I added. “Be aware of your breathing as often as you are able, whenever you remember. Do that for one year, and it will be more powerfully transformative than attending all of these courses. And it’s free.”

The Power of breathing, Ute Gerzabek, Page 11

“The key to good health is the efficient working of the cardiovascular system-the heart, lungs and blood circulation. Each relies on the other and they do their job so automatically that you hardly need think about it. Yet just one element is vital to all – air.

To remain in prime condition at any age, you must power the system with your breathing, ensure that air flows unhindered to all parts of the body. To breathe freely you must make a conscious effort to control and shape your breath.”

The breathing Book, Donna Farhi, Introduction xiv

“breathing affects your respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological, gastrointestinal, muscular, and psychic systems and also has a general effect on your sleep, your memory, your energy level, and your concentration. Everything you do, the pace you keep, the feelings you have, and the choices you make are influenced by the rhythmic metronome of your breath. As you are challenged, as we are today, with increasing levels of psychological, physical, and biological stress, the internal metronome that determines the quality and state of your breathing and health may be set at faster and faster speeds. You may have the feeling that your life has become like that of a hamster—endlessly running on a little wheel, with no way to stop and get off. You say you feel “stressed out” or “burned out,” and the tension and anxiety that accompanies that all-too-familiar state of over-load seems to be undermining your genuine desire to take care of yourself. You may remember a time when you were full of energy, and wonder where that time went and how you can recover it. In looking for a solution it is easy to get caught up in details, in theories, and in complicated strategies, for we very seldom explore the easiest and most fundamental concepts. The process of breathing lies at the center of every action and reaction we make or have and so by returning to it we go to the core of the stress response. By refining and improving the quality of our breathing we can feel its positive impact on all aspects of our being.

Today, Western medical and scientific studies are proving again and again what the Eastern health traditions have known for centuries: when we breathe well, we create the optimum conditions for health and well-being. And when we don’t, we lay the foundation for illnesses such as heart disease and high blood pressure. The ancients would roll their eyes that it has taken us this long to see the obvious. We can now take comfort in the knowledge that most modern scientific and medical research supports the belief that proper breathing is a cornerstone to our well-being.”

Bodymind, Ken Dychtwald, Page 147-148

“While working with the SAGE Project (a project that worked in a holistic manner with men and women sixty-five years old and older to promote self-development and enhanced health) I and others experimented with a variety of growth techniques and practices in an attempt to revitalize the minds and bodies of older men and women. Among the practices that we experimented with were relaxation training, electromyograph biofeedback, deep breathing, hatha yoga, bodymind awareness exercises, massage, Feldenkrais exercises, individual counseling, meditation, T’ai Chi, music therapy and Gestalt therapy.

After the first year of practice and research we interviewed the participants about which of the techniques seemed to be most effective for each of them in the restoration of emotional energy, physical well-being, and feelings of interpersonal connected-ness.

The answer was almost unanimous: deep breathing.

How remarkable that a process so simple could wield such profound power and have such possibilities for people who are more exaggeratedly blocked than many of us younger folks. My experience with these people has overwhelmingly reconfirmed my belief that the degree to which we allow the flow of life to breathe through our bodymind profoundly influences the degree to which we are in fact “alive,” regardless of age.”

THE VANCOUVER SUN

Deep breaths found to calm road rage

Ditch the New Age music—it makes drivers angrier

By CHRIS NUTTALL-SMITH, CANWEST NEW SERVICE

TORONTO – That New Age “relaxation” music with the sounds of seashores and chirpy birds doesn’t relax angry drivers, a new study shows. It makes them angrier.

The study of commuters on Toronto’s congested Highway 401 shows that drivers are better off learning yoga-style deep breathing exercises.

“Deep breathing may be the single, most effective, yet simple, tool available in the quest for stress management and its ease of use is a major advantage,” the authors write.

The study, by a pair of York University researchers and a U.S. academic, will be presented today at the American Psychological Association’s conference in Toronto.

Researchers asked 40 commuters aged 20 to 55 to respond to statements such as, “I get annoyed when driving behind other vehicles,” and “When I get irritated I drive aggressively.” From these, researchers created two subgroups of 20 each: high stress drivers and low stress drivers.

Half of each sub-group was taught deep breathing exercises. The other half was given a tape called Relaxation by Nature’s Touch, a New Age record label with song titles including Whale’s Love Song.

Before their commute, each of the drivers did an interview with a researcher by cell phone to gauge their stress level.

Then the drivers made their commute, doing their breathing exercises or listening to the tape, depending on which group they were in. After their commute, they called the researcher again.

Of the 20 low-stress drivers, the 10 who listened to the ‘relaxation’ music were less stressed after their commute then before, the study says, but they weren’t as chilled as their deep-breathing, low-stress counterparts.

The high-stress drivers who did deep-breathing exercises were also less stressed after their commute, wrote the authors, York University’s David Wiesenthal and Fiorella Lubertacci and Dwight Hennessy of Buffalo State College.

But the responses of the other high-stress drivers—who listened to the relaxation tape –were not so positive.

“High trait stress drivers who listened to relaxing music where seen to have…elevated state stress scores following the music.” the study says.

“The relaxation music chosen by the experimenter may have been perceived as irritating rather than soothing.”

The Province

Zetterberg in high gear after injury-prevention work

Tony Gallagher, Sports comment

Henrik Zetterberg missed nearly two months last season with a herniated disc in his back as the teams came down the stretch, and he was determined not to go through that again.

It almost kept him out of the playoffs, and if he’d not been ready, the Detroit Red Wings might never have seen the Western Conference final.

So he spent a good portion of his summer working with Swedish elite League club Timra’s fitness trainer Thord Johansson and Andreas Ohgren, a personal trainer in Stockholm, to try to cure the back ailment.

The goal was to strengthen the muscles in his abdomen, but not the ones people usually work on.

“It started out really no more than breathing exercises and it progressed from there,” he was explaining Tuesday from Detroit.

“From the breathing, you got to the point where you could feel other muscles there and then it was just a long, boring series of exercises to use those muscles without using the big ones. I’m still doing them, and so far the back hasn’t been a problem.”

The Vancouver Sun

Ames true in defending Skins Game title

IN MONEY:

Canadian’s cool, calm, collecting $675,000

“On his final hole, Ames put himself in great position by striking a 9-iron from 142 yards close enough to the pin. Zach Johnson, Fred Couples and Brett Wetterich all missed longer putts.

“Standing over the putt, I felt a little nervous, so I had to go back to some of the things I’ve done in the past—focus on my breathing and stuff,” Ames said.

“Yes, I made a great putt, and it went right in the middle of the hole, exactly where I saw it. So that was the fun part. It’s not quite the Masters, but it’s $675,000.”

PA SportsTicker

Issue 89: Just Breathe, Garden of Life

Breathing correctly can reduce stress, provide energy and adequately oxygenate your brain & body, so take a deep breath…and read on.

Most of us probably don’t give breathing a second thought. After all, it is pretty much automatic, so we really don’t have to remember to breathe. It’s a pretty big deal, too—this breathing thing. Did you know that we take in over 20,000 breaths per day, totaling about 35 pounds of air? It all adds up, too, because over an average lifetime, that’s about 625 million breaths!

Of course, breathing is essential to life, but did you know that correct and maximized breathing is essential to overall health? All of us breathe just to stay alive, but most of us access only 10% to 20% of our full breathing capacity, which can leave us short of energy—among other things. Proper breathing increases the flow of oxygen to our brains, our cells, and to our bodies, while reducing toxic buildup in the lungs and cleansing the blood.

You may be wondering just what can impair such a natural thing as breathing. Stress, anxiety, being overweight, cramped or lazy posture, restrictive clothing and lack of exercise can all contribute to poor breathing and/or poor lung capacity. For example, the body responds to stress by taking rapid, shallow breaths, but breathing slowly and deeply can reduce that stress response.

Proper, deep breathing can take some practice, though. For most of us, if we take a deep breath, we pull in our abdominal area and raise our shoulders—but this is still shallow breathing, according to Dennis Lewis who leads breathing awareness workshops.

In his article Deep Breathing, Lewis says “we need to understand the function of the chest and diaphragm in breathing, as well as the function of the belly, lower ribs, and lower back. We also need to observe how unnecessary tension in our muscles impedes our breathing.”

By inhaling deeply, however, it allows your lungs to breathe in as much oxygen as possible. Deep breathing includes not only the respiratory muscles of the chest, but also the belly, lower ribcage and the lower back.

In the article It’s Easy When You Don’t Try, breathing is explained: “Breathing oxygenates every cell of your body, from your brain to your vital organs. Without sufficient oxygen, your body becomes more susceptible to health problems.

For example, in a study published in The Lancet, cardiac patients who took 12 to 14 shallow breaths per minute (six breaths per minute is considered optimal) were more likely to have low levels of blood oxygen, which “may impair skeletal muscle and metabolic function, and lead to muscle atrophy and exercise intolerance.”

In contrast, deep breathing raises levels of blood oxygen, promoting health in many ways — from stimulating the digestive process to improving fitness and mental performance. Alternative health icon Dr. Andrew Weil says, “If I had to limit my advice on healthier living to just one tip, it would be simply to learn how to breathe correctly.”

Perhaps best of all, deep breathing can be done anywhere at any time. It’s amazing the difference that just breathing properly can make in your health.

Give it a try!

This information is intended for educational and informational purposes only. It should not be used in place of an individual consultation or examination or replace the advice of your health care professional and should not be relied upon to determine diagnosis or course of treatment.

Education: Learning for the Heart

By Janet Steffenhagen, Vancouver Sun September 25, 2009
Students in dozens of B.C. schools are practising a simple breathing exercise as part of a program that teachers say has the power to transform their lives.
Called MindUP, the program was created by actress Goldie Hawn during a sojourn in Vancouver several years ago. It is regarded as a beacon by those who believe schools must stretch beyond academics to provide students with social and emotional learning — also known as education for the heart.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Education+Learning+Heart/2020686/story.html#ixzz0sHoDZZxG

Three Effective Breathing Treatments for Asthmatics

MESOTHELIOMA AND HEALTH, June 25 2010

A great number of asthma patients find it difficult to manage their symptoms. Even the medications fail to control the symptoms in some cases. The best way to control asthma symptoms is to take all necessary measures to prevent them from developing. Here are the three effective breathing treatments that are very helpful for asthmatics.
Read more: http://www.saglik24.net/index.php/2010/06/three-effective-breathing-treatments-for-asthmatics/