One breath is all it takes!

I’ve said it before & I’ll say it again. Oxygen is the most important element for life! Now how do we get oxygen? Through breathing… the inhalation of air through our nose (or mouth), journeying down our windpipe to bundles of little sacs lining our lungs. Within these, gaseous exchange oxygenates our blood, taking it to every muscle, tissue and living cell within our body. 

Now what if I said most people can’t breathe properly? Well I can bet the majority of you reading this fall into that category, something so simple, something we do subconsciously yet we do it so wrong. 

Nature created us to breathe with our diaphragms, the large muscle sitting at the bottom of the ribcage acting as a vacuum.  By doing so we gain air, oxygen, nutrients and ENERGY!  And when we don’t (breathe properly) what are we? Inefficient.  When you don’t breathe correctly, you inhale too much oxygen, exhale too much carbon dioxide and that results in colds, flus, illness (aka the nasties), gut dysfunction, anxiety, foggy thinking, fatigue, to the aches & pains you feel in your body. 

Think – when you are taking those small, rapid breaths through your chest you’ve suddenly become less efficient, less creative than the person next to you breathing from the diaphragm, why? Because you’re wasting energy. 

We take 20,000 breaths a day. How much more can you achieve if each of those 20,000 were efficient? Think of the benefits in your mood, energy levels, creativity, the reduction of your aches & pains. You stop becoming known as the person with the constant cold and you start achieving. 

I know what you are thinking… “is that me?” -  lets find out!

• Do you hold your breath at times?
• Do you feel the need for a long breath?
• Do you have a very short and quick breath?
• Do you run out of breath when you move faster? 

How can an osteopath help? 

Altered breathing patterns mean the neck and shoulder muscles pull on the spine, collarbones and base of the skull. Upper chest tension leads to aches & pains. These tensions reduce the ribs ability of expanding, increasing muscle tightness & decreasing joint mobility not just for the ribs, but the whole spine and shoulders. We are more than individual parts, we are not just an arm, a neck or a back. It takes the whole body working together for us to be effective. Osteopathy does just that, it works by assessing and treating muscles, joints and nerves, helping the body to recover but also PREVENTING these occurrences. 

Want to get a head start? Give this a go, reap the rewards!

·     Lie on the floor, place one hand on your chest and one hand on your tummy

·     Close your mouth completely and breathe in and out only through your nose

·     Imagine the air going in through your nose, down your windpipe and straight into an inflatable bag in your stomach

·     Imagine the hand on your tummy is a brick. Think about expanding your tummy to lift the brick

·     As you slowly inhale, also try to prevent the “chest hand” from moving at all. Instead, feel the air inflate your abdomen until you achieve a pot-belly tummy. You should also be aware of a stretch sensation deep inside your chest; this is your diaphragm working. 

·     The “in” breath should take five seconds and the “out” breath seven seconds

·     Carry out ten of these breaths, but no more. It will get easier each time. 

·     You will need to achieve 50 of these breaths a day (5x10)

This will help retrain the healthy habit – the first set should be done when you wake up and the last before you shut your eyes to sleep!

If this is you and you’ve had enough of those nasties, book to see me at Bodybeliefs.co.uk 

www.bodybeliefs.co.uk | [email protected] | 07531 211718