YOUR BREATH IS A VERY POWERFUL RESOURCE

The following information is taken from Andrew Weil. One of the many wonderful and amazing speakers at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. Breathing is a very powerful resource and while below I have given you more information let me tell you the following words to remember.

DEEPER - SLOWER - QUIETER - MORE REGULAR

"If today you can be aware of breathing for 10 seconds more than you were yesterday, you will have taken a measurable step toward enlightenment, will have expanded your consciousness, furthered communication between mind and body, become a little more whole, and so improved your health. While diet and exercise are important, they are not the sole determinants of health. People who eat excellent diets and exercise faithfully are not always healthy, but the likelihood of being a healthy person who does not breathe well is slim."

LEARNING TO BREATHE: When learning how to breathe, begin by closing your eyes for a few minutes. Practice moving your breath. Keep your back straight. Begin with a deep, audible sigh, then quietly inhale and see how slow, deep, quiet and regular you can make your breathing and still have it feel perfectly comfortable. You should feel that you are getting enough air with no sense of not getting enough air. Do this for at least eight breaths, then open your eyes and breathe normally. This is a simple exercise but an effective one, and you should do it whenever you can.

PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR EXHALE: If you watch people breathe, you will see that most of them use effort to inhale but none to exhale. Exhalation is usually passive and takes less time than inhalation. When you breathe this way, you do not move nearly as much air in and out of your lungs as you can. The more air you move, the healthier you will be, because the functioning of all systems of the body depends on delivery of oxygen and removal of carbon dioxide. To get more air into your lungs, concentrate on getting more air out of them by attending to exhalation.
At the end of a normal breath try squeezing more air out. You will be using your intercostal muscles to do this, and you will feel the effort as they compress the rib cage. Try to make your exhalation as long or even slightly longer than inhalation. Whenever you think of it, practice this technique of extending exhalation and developing your intercostal muscles.

TRY THIS EXERCISE:
Breathe in for for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, exhale for 8 seconds. Do this cycle four times and work up to eight times.
If you can do it twice a day then you are doing amazing.