There’s no escaping it – we’re all overly stressed. Surviving a global pandemic and the rigors of quarantining, the rising costs of everything, racial and social upheaval, political divisiveness, and the foibles of daily living have us all on the hairy edge of a major meltdown.
In a nutshell, intentional breathing reverses nearly everything that chronic stress does to our bodies. Wellness expert Andrew Weil once stated that, “If I had to limit my advice on healthier living to just one tip, it would be simply to learn how to breathe correctly.”
“Email apnea” – a very real affliction in our hurry-up-and-do-everything-at-once digital society. Learning to breath deeply using the diaphragm (also known as diaphragmatic breathing, can help.
We’ve come back to this topic a number of times as new information arises, but this one clearly takes the cake. Countless people have shared personal stories of how the breath can be used to manage pain, and many women point to their experiences with childbirth as a prime example, but I’m voting for this […]
It is not unusual to hear people talking about “time management.” Most of us try to jam far too much into the hours available to us, thinking that if we could more effectively manage every single second of our day, we could finally catch up and relax. Late breaking news flash: It’s not going to […]
The combination of laughter exercises with breathing and stretching exercises derived from yoga comprises Laughter Yoga. Yoga teachings say, according to the article, that “we are alive because of the life-sustaining energy force known in yoga as prana. It enters our body through breathing and flows through the energy channels called nadis, very much like the Chinese chi, which flows through meridians.”
Interesting new research has emerged about the importance of the lowly sigh. We all do it, and for a variety of reasons. In a story on the website MedIndia – Network for Health, sighing actually increases the flexibility of the human breathing system.
I have found, thanks to a sympathetic massage therapist a while back, that a tiny bit of eucalyptus oil, available at many health food stores, or other essential aromatic oils such as peppermint can help dramatically when face down on the massage table.
Ok, I have to admit that some of our posts may get a bit geeky from time to time. Information about how brain cells affect the breathing process may not appeal to your average Joe Sixpack. But fear not. Here is news you can use! Dallas free-lancer Jenny Block wrote a great piece a while […]
