Be Intentional With Your Breath

We must understand this one fundamental truth….

Our breath is a key indicator to our body that everything is ok.  

Breath is the primary messenger about how our body should feel.  

Our body changes how it functions in response to our breathing.  

Short, shallow, or even holding our breath is stressful to our body and indicates a threat is near.

The body feeling stress or seeing threats is its cue to start prioritizing different functions in response to our natural instinct for survival.  

So as our body is prepares to ‘fight’ or ‘flight’ a few things happen;

• Heart rate increases

• We divert blood from ‘non-essential’ functions like food digestion to instead pump blood to our extremities so they can save us from this ‘threat’. 

• Our hormones go crazy pumping adrenaline and cortisol into our blood. 

An important note is that for the majority of human civilization ‘stress’ and ‘threats’ were wild animals, plague and war.  

And even though that level of threat no longer really exists, our bodies still experience stress in the same way. 

Our bodies are now responding to perceived threats and stress with this same very dramatic reaction.

Key word: perceived.

It is our perception of things like traffic, work emails or politics on the news and social media that cause stress.  

Although no physical threat is present, our breathing gets shorter and faster (or we hold it), we feel stress and our body responds accordingly. 

Conversely, long, slow, deep, belly breaths are communication to the body that everything is ok.  

These types of breath are only possible when our body is in a positive physical and psychological state.  

So, when we intentionally breathe deep breaths, we are telling our body that we are at peace, not war. 

Instead of being in fight or flight mode our body is in rest and digest mode.

Instead of stress hormones, we have happy hormones like serotonin and oxytocin. 

Instead of stress of restricting oxygen flow, we increase oxygen flow. 

This is being intentional with our breath is so important.  

Deep, belly filling breaths is the language of peace that our body speaks.  

And in times of stress, you can speak this language to your body as a cue for your body to relax. 

This is why breathing is so important in things like yoga, having a baby, therapy sessions and so much more!

This is why when people get upset we say “just take a deep breath”.

Lol…although it may feel condescending, it is actually the best advice to receive in the moment. 

So next time we watch a political debate, our partner/kids/pets are acting up, or get an unexpected expense, breathe. 

Take a deep belly breath. 

Inhale and let our breath be a loving, comforting hug to our insides. 

We are in the month of July and our 4th Pillar of Wellness - Breath

Breath is the first of 3 Pillars in the realm of theSpirit.

Join us for a new Pillar of Wellness every month.

Learn more at OriAra.com