What yoga has to say about shallow and deep breathing.
“The surrounding environment and the way you breathe, sit, eat and talk affects the quality and quantity of the air you inhale and thus, your way of experiencing life.”
Yoga is an essential part of Ayurvedic science. Yogic science dwells upon aligning the body’s energies to the higher self so that it is at ease and in the best of health. The primary emphasis is on the way of breathing and it’s more important than ever now as our modern day lifestyle has changed the pattern of our breathing.
The dark side of having shallow breathing.
Most of us have shallow breathing. Shallow breathing reduces the life span, as it reduces the blood supply to the entire body, including the heart and brain. Shallow breathing weakens the immune system, whereas deep breathing prolongs the quality of the body’s immunity powers and life span of an individual.
Shallow breathing can be caused by:
1) Anger
2) Stress
3) Smoking, pollution, and any other lung disease.
4) Obesity
5) Processed food, cold drinks, ice cream, sweets, oily foods, frozen foods
6) Nonvegetarian food
7) Alcohol has an irreversible impact on human psychology and the physical body.
What is deep breathing then?
Deep breathing has its origin from the Science of Yoga, specifically from Pranayama.
This word Pranayama is derived from two Sanskrit words Prana (life force) and Yama (control). Pranayama teaches that, through proper control of different breathing techniques, the quality of life can be improved. Breathe consciously, slowly, and deeply to accomplish this improvement.
The advantages of deep breathing are:
1. Slow and deep breathing leads to a longer lifespan.
2. More oxygen reaches the lungs for blood purification. Life is not possible without oxygen for even a few minutes. Shallow breathing leads to a prolonged oxygen deficit, which in turn leads to a major loss of health. Consider that the life span of tortoise is very long because of their deep breathing pattern.
3. Deep breathing increases the amount of oxygen delivered to your body through the lungs, thus detoxifying the body. It is said that with effective breathing, we can remove almost 70% of the toxins contained in our body.
4. The immunity powers of the body increase and reduce the susceptibility to colds, coughs, recurrent infections, and other illnesses. Different kinds of stress which also reduce immunity can be alleviated by deep breathing, as shown by this analysis.
5. Deep breathing strengthens the nervous system, along with increasing energy and stamina.
6. It also strengthens the heart and the lungs by improving the circulation of oxygen, thus reducing their workload. Have a look at an analysis describing this process.
7. Deep breathing massages the internal organs like the stomach, small intestines, liver, and pancreas, all leading to an improvement in digestion.
Conclusion
We breathe all the time without restraint. Thus the way we breathe can have effects that last a lifetime.
Start with deep breathing for a few minutes; keep practicing until deep breathing becomes a habit.
This small change will help you live a healthier, heartier and happier life!
