Time flies when you're having fun ??

Hi,

I hope that you had an excellent weekend and managed to make the most of the summer sunshine between the showers.

Are you one of those keen gardeners that used their time to tidy things up and do some planting?

As you are likely to be spending more time in the garden I thought that now would be a good time to share my blog on the dangers of gardening...

I am sure you thought that it was a harmless hobby, but if you have never heard of gardener's back, weeder's wrist, or pruner's neck you need to read it.?

Now you know how dangerous gardening can be you will hopefully manage to avoid those problems but just in case you develop new aches and pains you know where I am if you need me ??

Breathing is easy, isn't it?

Everyone knows how to breathe because we have been doing it since we were born and it's the most natural thing in the world. As with a lot of things, 'it ain't what you do it's the way that you do it' (thanks Fun Boy Three &?Banarama).?

The way we breathe falls into one of two categories and we tend to be either chest or abdominal (belly) breathers.

Chest breathing primarily involves the intercostal muscles, which lie?between the ribs,?and the scalene muscles which are on either side of your neck. This form of breathing means that air tends to stay in the upper part of the lungs which are not then fully inflated. Because the neck and shoulder muscles are involved it can result in the muscles being overused causing stress-like symptoms, headaches, neck pain, and upper back pain.??

While resting abdominal breathing primarily uses contraction of the diaphragm to inflate the lungs resulting in a deeper breath and the lungs being fully inflated.?

When you are more active you use all the muscles listed above to expand the lungs and increase the amount of air you inhale which in turn increases the amount of oxygen available to your muscles. Contraction of the muscles will help to contract your lungs and get rid of carbon dioxide.

Is it better to be a chest or abdominal breather I hear you ask?

Abdominal breathing wins every time as it involves taking more air and therefore more oxygen into the lungs and breathing out gets rid of more carbon dioxide. In addition, abdominal breathing stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system which is primarily the 'Rest and Digest' part of your nervous system (the opposite of this is the sympathetic nervous system which is all about 'Fight, Flight or Freeze' but that is a story for another time). This is great for relaxation and is why deep breathing is used in Yoga, Pilates, meditation,?and martial arts like Tai Chi.?

This is a very simple explanation of the issues with chest breathing and the benefits of abdominal breathing, if you would like a more in-depth explanation let me know in the comments and I will make it a topic for a future newsletter.

Thanks for reading, now go enjoy the rest of your day ??