Completely Connected

With each breath that you take, you can observe the connection of your subconscious to your conscious, and the connection of the ‘external’ world (the air) to the internal one (your body), and see that there are no clear boundaries separating any of those, because they are not completely separate. It’s quite a miracle. InContinue reading “Completely Connected”

A 1 Minute Breath Exercise

If you Google ‘average respiratory rate’ you’ll find that the average number of breaths per minute that most humans make ranges from 12 to 16. What you won’t find in doing that is ‘what’s better than average’? What is optimal? If you dig a little deeper, you’ll discover that breathing at a rate about ofContinue reading “A 1 Minute Breath Exercise”

How Should You Breathe?

Here is what’s supposed to happen when you breathe: Air comes in through your nose. Your belly expands for the first two-thirds of the inhale. Your chest and upper rib cab expand for the final third. On the exhale, things collapse in reverse order. On the inhale & exhale, you fill up & empty completely.Continue reading “How Should You Breathe?”

Relaxation & Stress: Have You Forgotten How To Breathe?

Most of you reading this either drive, or take the train, to work, every day. Your commute is a tremendous opportunity to improve your health through breathing. Breathing – not meditation. Meditation is great, and, I do it every day. But I’m talking about just breathing, correctly. It’s quite typical to go through life theseContinue reading “Relaxation & Stress: Have You Forgotten How To Breathe?”

Relaxation & Stress: How Often Is Your Breathing Interrupted?

It seems likely to me that your breathing patterns are regularly interrupted. I know that mine are. Even though I meditate once or twice daily, and even though I practice full, deep breathing throughout the day, my attention still drifts. I get distracted. I will say, however, that the daily practice of breathing I’ve takenContinue reading “Relaxation & Stress: How Often Is Your Breathing Interrupted?”

Relaxation & Stress: Are You Breathing In Reverse?

Even though I’ve been meditating daily for about two years now, I noticed recently that, at other times during the day, I was restricting, almost unconsciously, my belly from expanding. I was holding it back it. I say almost unconsciously because true, unconscious breathing follows the correct pattern. It’s only years of conditioning that overtakesContinue reading “Relaxation & Stress: Are You Breathing In Reverse?”

Remember How To Breathe

Throughout the day, many things stress you out. Some are obvious and ‘major’, such as finances, family drama, and work deadline. Some are less obvious – but, perhaps, just as harmful … or even worse. For example, it may be true that your body handles a ‘major’ stressor well & appropriately by raising your adrenalineContinue reading “Remember How To Breathe”