The website, http://www.healthoxygen.com/ lists several curative effects of oxygen, which include an increase in energy levels, detoxifying the body, aiding digestion, and enabling muscle recovery. However, you cannot achieve the curative effects of oxygen if you don’t breathe deeply enough to effectively oxygenate your body! Here are four key ways that deep breathing can actually lower your risk for disease.
1. You will oxygenate your body. Oxygen boosts the immune system and has been used for years in hospital settings as a method to assist with patient recovery. Think about it: oxygen is essential for sustaining human life! When the body is deprived of oxygen (for example – because of poor posture, slouching, or shallow breathing) at the outset it results in headaches, muscle fatigue, blurred vision and distorted focus. Imbalances in oxygen levels have been linked to migraines as well as certain types of cancers. Deep, diaphragmatic breaths can reduce your risk for these types of ailments.
2. Breathing deeply will slow down your heart rate. When the body is stressed it goes into fight or flight mode. When this happens the heart beats faster, blood thickens (causing the heart to pump harder), and blood pressure rises. Prolong these effects over time and you will be at risk for hypertension and cardiovascular disease (CVD). When you are feeling stressed or tense, take a moment to slow your breathing, with a concentration on filling your lungs to capacity, circulating the oxygen through your system, and slowly releasing the air from your lungs. You will find after a few deep breaths that your heart rate will begin to slow, and you can bring your body functions back to baseline. Your heart gets enough wear and tear throughout the course of daily living – give it a break by regulating your breathing.
3. Deep breathing expels toxins from the body. The process of breathing serves an important function – aside from just keeping you alive. As you inhale, you are taking in oxygen – this oxygen travels through the blood stream, circulating throughout the body. Cells travel along this route to gather up toxins and “bad air” (aka carbon dioxide) which is then expelled each time we exhale. Shallow breathing does not allow for adequate collection of these toxins. Sure, we are keeping ourselves alive and we are circulating our blood and oxygen; however, when you take a deep cleansing breath, you will feel and see the difference immediately.
4. You will re-energize your brain. A properly hydrated and oxygenated brain is a high functioning brain. Studies state that we humans only use about 2% of our brain power. Imagine how a lack of oxygen and water contributes to the lack of functionality of that 2%! Deep breathing circulates oxygen back to the brain, which will result in better focus, clearer thinking, less headaches, and a more peaceful rest.
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