独家优惠奖金 100% 高达 1 BTC + 180 免费旋转

Forgotten Basics

How long can we survive without food?

Now how long can we survive without water?

As a general rule of thumb, a person can survive without water for about three days.

But how long can we survive without air?

We can’t survive more than 2 minutes without breathing. The reason behind it was we lost the breathing technique over the years, and as a result, we adopted shallow breathing as our day to breathing.

Shallow Breathing

Shallow breathing, as you might expect, is breathing that does not engage the diaphragm. You might take what you think is a deep breath, but the air you take in doesn’t get very far. When you take a big breath into your upper chest, it doesn’t get all the way down to the air sacs in the lungs (called the alveoli). The result is that the lungs cannot access the oxygen in that air, and no matter how much air you breathe in, you feel breathless.

Deep Breathing

Deep breathing is breathing from the diaphragm. A natural, inaudible inhalation that makes the belly rise and fall gently as you inhale and exhale. It’s the kind of breath you will see a tiny baby take.

The diaphragm is the primary breathing muscle. It is a thin sheet of striated muscle, the same kind of muscle as those that move your joints. It sits below the ribs, between the chest and the abdomen. As you inhale, the diaphragm flattens and contracts, moving downwards into the stomach. When you exhale, it returns to its natural domed shape. Inhalation requires more work from the diaphragm, and exhalation is mainly passive.

The diaphragm needs room to move to function correctly. If you constantly sit slumped at your desk or on the couch, the chances are your diaphragm is not getting much of a workout. If this is the case, you probably breathe predominantly into your upper chest without even knowing it. If you regularly have tension or pain in your lower back, neck, and shoulders, the same goes. When your posture or movement is less than optimal, your breathing will suffer as you tense up and hold your breath to avoid pain.

Advantages of Deep Breathing

Breathing correctly is essential for your overall well-being. While its benefits are uncountable, here are some important ones that will motivate you to breathe deep.

Natural painkiller

When you deep breathe, the body releases endorphins, the feel-good hormones, and a natural pain killer created by the body itself.

Improves blood flow

When we take deep breaths, the upward and downward movement of the diaphragm helps remove the toxins from the body, promoting better blood flow.

Improves immunity

Deep breathing brings fresh oxygen and exhales out toxins and carbon dioxide. When the blood is oxygenated, it ensures the smoother functioning of your vital organs, including the immune system. A cleaner, toxin-free, and healthier blood supply help ward off infection-causing germs from the base and strengthens your immunity. Deep breathing also acts as a natural toxin reliever. It also benefits the absorption of vitamins and nutrients in the body, making sure you recover faster.

Calms down anxiety

Practicing deep breathing is a hack a lot of experts and psychologists swear by to treat anxious thoughts and nervousness in a jiffy. Deep breathing slows down your heart rate, allows the body to take in more oxygen, and ultimately signals the brain to wind down. It also balances your hormones- lowering down cortisol levels, increasing the endorphin rush in the body.

Helps you sleep better

Following a simple deep breathing regime- ‘5–4–3–2–1’ can guarantee better sleep. Taking slow, deep, long breaths can signal your body to detoxify and return to a sense of calm- which can help you sleep better. Those undergoing insomnia are often suggested practicing breathing exercises, along with meditation before bedtime for good sleep.

It detoxifies the body

Carbon dioxide is a natural toxic waste that comes out from our body only through breathing. But when our lungs are compromised by shallow breathing, the other detoxification system starts working harder to expel this waste. This can make our body weaker and lead to illness.

Improves digestion

Breathing deep supplies more oxygen to all our body parts, including our digestive system, thus making it work more efficiently. The increased blood flow due to deep breathing also encourages intestinal action, which further improves your overall digestion. In addition, deep breathing results in a calmer nervous system, which in turn also enhances optimal digestion.

Breathing relaxes mind and body

When you are angry, tensed or scared, your muscles are tightened, and your breathing becomes shallow. Your breathing constricts. At this time your body is not getting the amount of oxygen it requires. Long deep breathing reverses this process, allowing your body (and mind) to become calmer.

Have you ever wondered why whales and dolphins have to come to the surface to breathe? Unlike fish, whales and dolphins can’t breathe underwater. In fact, they are more like humans than fish when it comes to breathing. Both of these aquatic mammals have lungs for breathing air (which they do through what is commonly known as a blowhole). Despite this inability to breathe underwater, these mammals, along with many others, are capable of holding their breath underwater for long periods of time.

Freediver, Aleix Segura Vendrell from Spain holds the record for longest-held breath at 24 minutes, but the average human can only hold their breath for up to two minutes. Humans generally learn everything from Nature, so either we forgot or missed to learn ,but Compared to these amazing aquatic mammals, humans still have a long way to go.

Source and References

Add a comment

What is your view?

Send

Related posts:

Che significato ha ogni colore?

Noi di Helloprint ci teniamo a studiare i colori e scoprire i loro significati. Anche se potrà sembrarti difficile da credere, i colori hanno il potere di influenzare il comportamento umano e le…

The Importance of Work Ethic

We live in the hustle age. We have influencers like Gary V sharing and pushing this culture of “if you want it, go get it”. It will be hard, they say. But with enough work and dedication, it’s…

A Writing Habit That Will Last

I used to be crippled by perfectionism. When I sit down to write now, the words just flow. It was easier than I ever imagined. I think I’ve finally created a writing habit that will last. I am…