This is taken from my book "Superior Health : The Secrets Of The Chinese And Eastern Way".
( Reading Time – Approximately Three To Four Minutes ).
( Reading Time – Approximately Three To Four Minutes ).
In past blogs I have written about how essential it is to maximize your energy to keep all your organs functioning at their highest levels. This will produce the optimum in physical, mental and emotional well being.
It also empowers your body to carry out the necessary functions, repairs and maintenance which will help prevent many ailments or any weaknesses that can allow disease to occur.
There are many methods used in the East to cultivate and gather energy in the body. In this blog update, we will focus on just one of them, the use of Eastern style breathing techniques. Breathing is free and when performed correctly can produce great improvements to your overall health.
It also empowers your body to carry out the necessary functions, repairs and maintenance which will help prevent many ailments or any weaknesses that can allow disease to occur.
There are many methods used in the East to cultivate and gather energy in the body. In this blog update, we will focus on just one of them, the use of Eastern style breathing techniques. Breathing is free and when performed correctly can produce great improvements to your overall health.
Unlike our current Western habit of shallow and unproductive breathing, these Eastern techniques will strengthen our lungs and train us to breathe in a much more beneficial, energy enhancing and healthy way.
In the West, unnatural shallow breathing has come about from several different reasons…
In the West, unnatural shallow breathing has come about from several different reasons…
(1) We are spending more and more time inside; working at desks in our homes and offices, playing computer games, watching television or using the internet.
Often is the case, that these practices damage our posture. They cause us to slouch or lean over desks or keyboards, cramping and squashing our lungs up, preventing them from opening fully, and inhaling and exhaling properly.
It is very easy to see the importance our lungs play in our well being from this type of action. We easily become tired and our brains seem to slow and falter. Our whole bodies seem to become sluggish. During this activity, if you take a break and go outside or stand by an open window and breathe deeply, you will find within a matter of a few short minutes, that you become fresh, alert and awake again. Once the oxygen and energy have been pushed back into your blood stream and circulated around your body everything livens back up.
(2) Our modern world has also played a significant part in lung disorders and weaknesses which inhibit deep breathing. Much of our food has become so overly processed and full of chemicals that our bodies our unable to digest them properly. This leads to a build up of phlegm and toxins in the blood stream and the lungs. The activity of the lungs to inhale oxygen will be impeded by this.
Apart from the phlegm and toxins to be found in the modern foods we eat, the lungs have also become burdened by fumes, unnatural gasses and environmental pollution in the air we breathe.
(3) The Western habit of bottling up emotions leads to the lungs becoming over tight, this stifles the energy and air as it moves through them.
As young children when we had a problem we roared crying, throwing our arms in the air and letting everything go. Then we would quickly get over it and become happy again.
However as we aged we were criticized, ridiculed and made fun of for crying and expressing our emotions. So rather than letting them be over and done with, we started to hold them inside. Storing them up, where they would cause pain, obstruction and future illness.
Often is the case, that these practices damage our posture. They cause us to slouch or lean over desks or keyboards, cramping and squashing our lungs up, preventing them from opening fully, and inhaling and exhaling properly.
It is very easy to see the importance our lungs play in our well being from this type of action. We easily become tired and our brains seem to slow and falter. Our whole bodies seem to become sluggish. During this activity, if you take a break and go outside or stand by an open window and breathe deeply, you will find within a matter of a few short minutes, that you become fresh, alert and awake again. Once the oxygen and energy have been pushed back into your blood stream and circulated around your body everything livens back up.
(2) Our modern world has also played a significant part in lung disorders and weaknesses which inhibit deep breathing. Much of our food has become so overly processed and full of chemicals that our bodies our unable to digest them properly. This leads to a build up of phlegm and toxins in the blood stream and the lungs. The activity of the lungs to inhale oxygen will be impeded by this.
Apart from the phlegm and toxins to be found in the modern foods we eat, the lungs have also become burdened by fumes, unnatural gasses and environmental pollution in the air we breathe.
(3) The Western habit of bottling up emotions leads to the lungs becoming over tight, this stifles the energy and air as it moves through them.
As young children when we had a problem we roared crying, throwing our arms in the air and letting everything go. Then we would quickly get over it and become happy again.
However as we aged we were criticized, ridiculed and made fun of for crying and expressing our emotions. So rather than letting them be over and done with, we started to hold them inside. Storing them up, where they would cause pain, obstruction and future illness.
This rigidity from incorrect upbringing stays with some people as they travel through their lives. Because of this it has become very easy to spot a stressed person. One of the first things you will notice about them is that they are holding themselves tensely and barely breathing. Apart from the long term damage that this is doing, in the short term, their brain won’t be able to receive enough oxygen, which will stop it from thinking clearly and will only further escalate their problems and mental stress.
(4) Another damaging habit we have developed, which is most likely to be the biggest culprit behind poor breathing habits in the West, is the fashionable obsession of having a big chest and a tiny waist. This has led many self conscious male and female teenagers to pull and hold in their abdomens while puffing out their chests during their developing years. This habit eventually becomes a permanent fixture and impedes deep full breathing.
Unfortunately, as we age, this inadequate breathing pattern tends to worsen, our breathing becomes more and more shallow, eventually breathing through just the top two lobes of the lungs. These can hardly supply the needy oxygen and energy demands of the body; which will inevitably, if not corrected, not just reduce our standard of living and happiness, but also increase our likelihood of illness and even hasten our demise.
To rectify our breathing we can learn and use the Eastern methods of abdominal and complete breathing.
The exact details of these will be clearly explained in parts 2 and 3 of this series of articles.
These proper breathing techniques will also help to alleviate and reduce symptoms of many lung disorders; including conditions such as asthma, emphysema, bronchitis, sinus and nasal congestion, and even excessive sneezing and yawning. The mind too will receive a boost from the extra oxygen and energy it gets, helping to relieve and reduce mental and emotional conditions such as depression and low moods.
(4) Another damaging habit we have developed, which is most likely to be the biggest culprit behind poor breathing habits in the West, is the fashionable obsession of having a big chest and a tiny waist. This has led many self conscious male and female teenagers to pull and hold in their abdomens while puffing out their chests during their developing years. This habit eventually becomes a permanent fixture and impedes deep full breathing.
Unfortunately, as we age, this inadequate breathing pattern tends to worsen, our breathing becomes more and more shallow, eventually breathing through just the top two lobes of the lungs. These can hardly supply the needy oxygen and energy demands of the body; which will inevitably, if not corrected, not just reduce our standard of living and happiness, but also increase our likelihood of illness and even hasten our demise.
To rectify our breathing we can learn and use the Eastern methods of abdominal and complete breathing.
The exact details of these will be clearly explained in parts 2 and 3 of this series of articles.
These proper breathing techniques will also help to alleviate and reduce symptoms of many lung disorders; including conditions such as asthma, emphysema, bronchitis, sinus and nasal congestion, and even excessive sneezing and yawning. The mind too will receive a boost from the extra oxygen and energy it gets, helping to relieve and reduce mental and emotional conditions such as depression and low moods.
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