You can go for weeks without food, days without water, but only a few minutes without breathing. Breathing has such an immediate impact on your mind and body that even the act of inhaling and exhaling affects your nervous system differently. It’s common to discipline yourself to diet, train your mind, and exercise but almost no one trains their breath. This is a huge missed opportunity for health-seekers.
Did you know…
- Breathing can change your blood PH in minutes. No food, exercise, or medication acts as quickly.
- You can often determine your dominant nervous system state simply by placing your finger underneath your nostrils and exhaling.
- Reduced breathing rate can stimulate your rest and digest, parasympathetic nervous system state which helps with sleep, stress, and anxiety.
- Rapid, pulsed breathing stimulates a sympathetic nervous system response to increase energy and helps your body prepare for exercise, or boost the body’s natural defenses.
- Diaphragmatic breathing massages the Vagus Nerve and reduces the heart rate, lowers blood pressure, and reduces stress.
- Severe respiratory conditions like asthma can be successfully managed by increasing CO2 levels in the blood.
- Breathing can help reduce the fear of public speaking, improve digestion, reduce insomnia, lower stress, anxiety, and overwhelm.
Sky Yang 