In my lifetime, there has never been a global moment of unrest than the world we are currently experiencing together. To that point, breathing has never been a more significant part of my existence than now!
So many of us have felt the need to “hold our breath” waiting for the next shoe to drop. Will it be a virus, a war, a mass shooting, etc.…?
One thing we do know is that these things are happening all the time. However, holding our breath is the last thing we should do.
During my 58 years alive, the one thing that has kept me on this earth above all else is breathing oxygen. I know it sounds funny and absurd to think that somebody reading this just had an “aha!” moment. My point is that most people do not understand the depth of oxyegen’s importance to our entire being.
The most simplistic understanding of O2 is that our lings process it so we can live. We learn early on that we breathe in O2 and breath out CO2. However, O2 is more ubiquitous to our well-being that just the relationship it has with our pulmonary system.
We know if our brain fails to receive O2 we cease to exist. However, our brains survive, and we live with shallow breathing. Still shallow breathing is far from optimal.
In a time when stress is at an all time high from our local lives to our global connections, mindful deep breathing is more paramount than ever.
From a physiological perspective, every cell in our body craves O2. Moreover, studies have shown that regular mindful breathing reduces cortisol by activating the parasympathetic nervous system. This tells the body that everything is okay. We produce noradrenaline every time we breathe in, which inhibits focus. Yet, when we practice mindful breathing, we can optimize our attention level(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5072593/).
For more information on deep breathing, take a breath and search online! There is a ton of great information on the positive effects of deep mindful breathing including articles on different techniques to optimize your state of being.
