How Is Your Breathing?

Oxygen is the most basic requirement for human life. Go without it for five minutes and you'll die. Yet most of us pay little attention to our breathing unless we are having respiratory problems. The fact is, an astonishing number of physical ailments and diseases are rooted in poor breathing and oxygen deficits. And even symptoms that are not caused by incorrect breathing can be eased and improved by conscious breathing practices.
Dr. Otto Warburg received the Nobel Prize, in 1931, for proving that cancer cells are anaerobic, which means they cannot survive in the presence of oxygen. Cancer is fast becoming the number one killer in this country. Not surprising. As much as we humans fear death, more than 80% of us are breathing just barely enough to stay alive!
Add to the equation the oxygen-robbing pollutants we all inhale daily, and our modern-day "health crisis" is far less mysterious than the pharmaceutical industry would like us to believe.
"The simplest and most powerful technique for protecting your health is absolutely free - and literally right under your nose," says Harvard Graduate Andrew Weil, MD, author of the NY Times Bestseller, Spontaneous Healing.
Are you ignoring the most powerful muscle in your body - the diaphragm - and therefore getting only 30% of the oxygen your body craves? Are you holding your breath when under stress?

While not widely publicized, perhaps due to low profit potential, clinical studies with thousands of participants, provide strong evidence that the most significant factor in health and longevity is how well you breathe. The famous Framingham Heart Study, for example, focused on the long-term predictive power of vital capacity and forced exhalation volume as the primary markers for life span.
According to researchers Helen Hubert and William B. Kannel of Boston School of Medicine (1981), "This pulmonary function measurement appears to be an indicator of general health and vigor, and literally a measure of living capacity". These researchers could predict how long a person was going to live by measuring how well s/he breathes.
The study concluded that vital capacity declined at the rate of 9% to 27% per decade, depending on age, sex and the time the test was given.

What has been largely overlooked is the fact that vital capacity can be maintained or increased, even in severe cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Any opera (not necessarily voice) teacher will attest to the fact that breathing volume can be increased, as will Dr. Weil and many open-minded and well-informed health professionals.
Yet engaging in activities such as singing and sports does not necessarily lead to optimal breathing. In fact, they can aggravate existing breathing restrictions, (ie., gasping, forcing the exhale, and panting). Conversely, you don't have to be an opera singer to have a huge pair of lungs or to overcome restricted breathing patterns and increase oxygen intake.
Unlike all the other involuntary functions of the body, breathing becomes voluntary as soon as you make a conscious effort to breathe differently. We offer a variety of techniques and exercises that help restore natural, healthy breathing patterns, balance nervous system function and expand vital capacity.

You can get the complete Framingham Heart Study by visiting the National Institute of Health's database online at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed