Category: Physiology of the Breath

DANCING BREATH RAP – DO IT NOW!

Exhale/Inhale

Here you will find the symbols of Inhale and Exhale.  There is an ancient practice called Qi Gong, or Chi Kung, which relies on the breath as an integral piece of the practice.  Qi Gong is described as: “the philosophy and practice of aligning breath, physical activity and awareness for mental, spiritual and corporeal health, as well as the development of human potential. It includes certain forms of martial arts and the spiritual awakening to one’s true nature.”

Like Dan Brule of BreathMastery (who’s website offers 5 core breath practices) you might see in these symbols the following:

“I see in the symbol for the exhale a bold vertical stroke that reminds me of the spine. It has what appears to be a serpent rising and coiling upward around the spine. (depicting what in Yogic literature is called the “Kundalini Serpent”).  That same vertical stoke appears on the inhale too. But on the inhale, I see a downward diagonal stroke shooting thru what looks like a rounded belly. This reminds me to send the breath deep into the abdomen. Directing the breath energy into the “dan tien” is a basic practice in Chi Kung.”

It is within this movement of inhale and exhale that we live and thrive.  In the rising like a serpent up the spine, and the softening of the rounded belly, we move the life energy/chi that is necessary for our vital health and aliveness.

In our often sedentary lifestyles in the Western culture that natural breath is squelched and contracted into a shallow chest effort that often never, ever gets down to our bellies, let alone front, back and sides.  Stagnation and dis-ease converge on our already stimulus overloaded bodies and we lose our zest for life – or perhaps life itself.

This on the other hand is what we aim for:  “For the most part, when the breathing mechanism is uninhibited, it will reflect and express your moment to moment natural state. A healthy breathing mechanism will automatically adjust itself to your energy. It will respond naturally to chemical or metabolic changes, to the intensity of your emotional experience or physical activity. And, it should respond easily effortlessly to your conscious will.” Dan Brule

Continually seeking practices that enhance the practice of breathing consciously, shake us lose from our inhibited and habitual breath patterns, and that increase life energy there appeared on my Facebook page today a very fun video with Dr. George Love (http://www.freewebs.com/4doorstohealth/) of Baton Roca, Florida.  Dr. Love is an acupuncturist, Doctor of Oriental Medicine, and a Master of Blue Dragon Qigong. I don’t think that he will be able to make his living doing rap….but what he does have to offer here is a way to move that chi around and BREATHE!  Have fun!!

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Trees Are The Lungs Of The Earth

“Don’t cut your trees, because the trees are the lungs of the earth. ”
-Milda Sebris , a resident at Ellen Memorial Health Care Center, turned 100 on 1/26/11.

To breathe is to live embodied.  Without this exquisite process going on day after day, year after year, moment after moment we would not be functional – we would not be alive!  Trees help the planet breathe by turning carbon dioxide into clean, pure oxygen. Plants are considered the lungs of the earth because plants produce oxygen, which is necessary for all life, so in essence, since our lungs keep us alive and trees keep our lungs alive we can consider trees to be a part of our lungs existence.  This is all part of the deep interconnectedness of all life.

Our lungs are quite amazing actually.  Did you know that there are about 300 million alveoli in the adult lung. The alveolar sacs consist of many alveoli and are composed of a single layer of epithelial tissue.  If these alveoli were pressed flat and spread out they would take up the space of a football field.  That is, a football field (including the two end zones) is 360 feet long and 160 feet wide for a total of 57,600 square feet!

Alveoli in the Lungs

The alveoli are considered the functional or foundational unit of the lung. In the spaces between the alveoli of the lungs is elastic connective tissue which is important for exhalation.  It is here, surrounded by pulmonary capillaries, that gases are exchanged and we are enlivened with every inhale and exhale that we take.

“Each alveolus is lined with a thin layer of tissue fluid, which is essential for the diffusion of gases, because a gas must dissolve in a liquid in order to enter or leave a cell.  This is called the “earthworm principle”.  An earthworm will breathe through it’s moist skin and suffocate if it’s skin dries out.

The inner walls of the alveoli are covered with a lipid material known as surfactant. This surfactant helps to stabilize the alveoli preventing their collapse.  Absence of surfactant would be similar to a plastic bag that is wet on the inside.  It’s walls would stick together and not allow for complete expansion.”

This biological process goes on moment after moment for the entirety of our lives, yet in order to breathe fully we need the support of the natural world around us.  As this world is tampered with by humans, the planet lets us know we are off balance with global climate change and other dramatic signs of imbalance.  Just as if we tampered with the alveoli of our lungs by unhealthy practices that caused disease and imbalance in our systems.

Our Earth is like the alveoli of the lungs – if she dries out she will suffocate.  Without the stabilization of the natural order of things there will be no expansion, no breath, no life – no Breathing Spaces.

Could it be that we need to pay closer attention to the smallest and most foundational parts of our Earth’s processes, and our own,  before we tackle the larger things?  Take yourself out into Nature this week and breathe.

Sergey Melnikoff – Breathing Nature – Selective Shots
Music by Zaza Marjanishvili, Produced by MediaGrail

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Everything You Need to Know About Life Is In One Breath

“Everything you need to know about life is in one breath.”

–Dewitt Jones, Photojournalist

 

 

 

 

 

 

After listening to the recent interview with Dewitt done by Sheila Finkelstein of Picture to Ponder I was brought back again to what an important tool and a metaphor for life the breath is.   You fill yourself up and then the biological imperative is that you must give it back out.  We, at times, attempt to hold our breaths thinking that it will make us “safe”and nothing bad will happen. Amelia Earhart said “Who wants a life imprisoned in safety?”

 
That is what holding our breath is about. You can’t not breathe – but you can, if you choose to do so, contract away from your own life experience and the calling and relationships that may be asking you out to play, create, and experience life fully, by shallow breathing or holding the breath.

 

You have to breathe!  Taking in a full breath fills you, gives energy, stimulates natural biological processes, and expands your potential for excitement about life and the contribution that you naturally have to bring.

 

Your contribution is then present in the exhale.   A giving out of the fullness that you have just taken in from a place of enough – to sustain, support, and create new life. For within the exhale a space is created to bring in more.

 

There is always enough, and for most living things this process is on automatic.  It is something that we can trust and relax into, especially during particularly difficult or stressful times.  Can we use the breath as a tool for recognizing the wealth and potential that is our life now?

 

Soft belly, relaxed shoulders, face and mind at peace – take time NOW to enter a Breathing Space of fullness.

 

Take that full breath and move, breathe and listen to Words From The Hopi Elders:

( from the album Songs of the Earth – Majbritte Ulrikkeholm & Søren Frieboe)  The music video was filmed by Majbritte Ulrikkeholm & Søren Frieboe .  Listen to the album on www.majbritteulrikkeholm.dk)

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Sympathetic Breathing

“Sympathetic Breathing” brings to my mind many possibilities.  I see two people embracing each other, matching breath and bringing support and love.  I also am aware that we feel the breath rhythms of everyone around us and actually breathe the air that all that went before us have breathed – including the plant and animal worlds.  This “intermingling” of breath…although some of you may not want to consider that…speaks to the deep interconnectedness that we mindfully, or unmindfully, play in every day.

There is also a natural breath rhythm that can calm the sympathetic nervous system in our body.  The sympathetic system is a system that activates during stress, worry, fear, or anxiety.  It is our fight or flight system that was beautifully created for us when we needed to run from the tigers (or whatever was chasing us in the moment) to survive.  The chemicals that are stimulated to flow, and the physiological activation of muscles, reflexes, heart, and breathing to “survival mode” wear our body down over time…but certainly saved us from danger in the past.

The video for this week uses beautiful images in nature and mindful guidance to instruct on our natural blueprint of breathing.  This breath is one which calms and balances the sympathetic nervous system and stimulates the parasympathetic system,which is our deep relaxation response.  Mindfully breathing in this manner can not only bring more peace and health into your life, but can also affect those around you as they align with your breathing.

 

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