Breathe, breathe, breathe!

Just Breathe!

Breathing is the most important thing we do!  When we stop breathing, we stop living -- literally!

While all of us who are living know how to breathe, very few of us remember to breathe deeply on a consistent basis!  Why is this so important?

Our nervous system has two main divisions:  sympathetic and parasympathetic.  The sympathetic part mobilizes our fight-or-flight response.  Whenever we perceive a threat (it doesn't matter if we are in real danger or not) our body becomes primed to fight or flee -- our heart rate and breathing speed up and stress hormones are released through our bloodstream to prepare for the threat facing us.  Because we live in a stressful world, we are constantly activating the fight-or-flight response!  When this happens, there is decreased blood flow to the thinking part of our brain and we are not able to respond logically to the perceived threat.  When we stay in this state of stress for too long, we begin to suffer physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

We can counteract the effects of fight-or-flight by activating the parasympathetic nervous system.  The parasympathetic is also referred to as "rest-and-digest" or "relax-and-renew." When we are frightened or stressed, we hold our breath or start taking shallow breaths.  To get from the stressful state of the sympathetic back into the relaxed and renewing (and healing) state of the parasympathetic, we need to take long, deep breaths!

Be sure that you breathe out for a longer count than you breathe in!  I've been so many different variations of the count, but here is a simple one to get started:  Breathe in through your nose for 4 seconds; hold for 4-8 seconds; breathe out through your mouth for 6-8 counts.  Do this several times a day and notice what happens with your mood!  You will be able to think more clearly, and solve problems more easily!