Unfiltered from the heart

a good bit of my work with clients involves breath awareness and retraining at rest

how we breathe affects our biochemistry; which neurons are fired & which ones are inhibited – neurons tell organs what to do as well as which muscles to contact, & which to relax

how we breathe affects our: alertness, ability to sleep (or not), how we perform day-to-day functions (yes, physically, and also mentally & emotionally) including how we digest, eliminate, or “hold on” when we need, too

how we breathe is easy to overlook because most of us breathe 15-20 times a minute at rest … so breathing very quickly becomes unconscious

when we breathe in quickly or primarily into our chest, it keeps us excited by activating the sympathetic/stress nervous system; this is absolutely necessary for muscle-moving physical activities & fight-or-flight responses (survival)

to breathe out 2x more slowly than we breathe in, we activate the peace or parasympathetic nervous system; this side of the nervous system supports rest, digestion, elimination & even some of our sexual functions

nostril (vs mouth) breathing, at rest, also supports the activation of the calming or peaceful side of the nervous system (this is at rest, both with breathing in & breathing out)

… whereas telling ourselves to calm down or “take a deep breath” usually causes a stronger stress or sympathetic response

there really is so much more that could be said & i’ll save it from another night … save one more bit:

our breath is our connection to the present moment … ourselves … our bodies … our higher power

{image: pexels}

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