Prolong your breath, extend your life

What do you think is the most fundamental factor to health and longevity? Let me give you a clue. It is also the one most critical to even being alive. It is the breath.

The breath is the thin line between life and death.
​With correct breathing, you can reduce your risk of disease and improve your health. Deep breathing and long complete exhalations bring physical, emotional and spiritual benefits. Reap these benefits by practising correct breathing today.

With correct breathing, you can reduce your risk of disease and improve your health. Deep breathing and long complete exhalations bring physical, emotional and spiritual benefits. Reap these benefits by practising correct breathing today.
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We begin our life when we draw our first in-breath. We leave our human body on our last out-breath.
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Breathing not only reflects but can also guide the state of our body and mind.

On average, we breathe between 17,000 and 30,000 times. Each one is a gate towards better health, focus, and balance. The Buddha realised Enlightenment on an exhale, according to scripture. Dr. Sheldon Saul Hendler, a leading authority on the role of breathing and micro-nutrition in health and aging writes:

“Breathing is unquestionably the single most important thing you do in your life. And breathing right is the single most important thing you can do to improve your life.”
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​12-20 breath per minute is 'typical' for healthy adults. 'Typical', it appears, is far from 'optimal'. Look at this chart from a research of the breathing habits of 85,000 people.

courtesy breathing.com
In summary: Breathing 12-24 times per minute on average correlated with 4 to 10 times higher incidence of anxiety and panic attacks, attention issues, high blood pressure, depression, and obesity compared to a rate of 5-6 breaths per minute.
Slow breathers enjoyed great health. Fast breathers had a rough time with their bodies and lives.Herein, lies ...

• Lesson 1) Slow down your breathing.

You cannot significantly slow your breathing unless you make it deeper. The way you make it deeper is by filling and emptying your lungs completely. To do this you must engage your diaphragm. Which leads us to ...

• Lesson 2) Breathe with your diaphragm.

If you try to put these into practice now by taking a deep inhale you may struggle. We put our diaphragm under unnecessary pressure when we take a forced deep inhale. Additionally, we tense our neck and chest muscles which must be at rest. To overcome this problem we focus on exhaling. When we exhale completely, we release the ribs and expel all air in the lungs. Then we engage the spring-like expansion of our ribs as our body takes a 'reflex' inhale. And this is our final ...

• Lesson 3) Focus on exhaling completely.

I assume you will learn the lessons and start practising deep, slow breathing. Here are 7 benefits you can expect:

Physical:
1) Improved oxygen delivery and carbon dioxide clearing. The former brings vitality to your body. The latter is a known stressor.
2) Lower blood pressure and (usually) heart rate. Both are robust indicators of health and longevity.
3) Better detoxification. Good breathing stimulates the lymphatic system and encourages the release of harmful toxins.
4) Longevity. I don't know how true it is that we die after we expel our pre-determined number of breaths. What I do know is that slower breathing usually equals longer life. This is true in people. It is also true in animals. Dogs breathe 15-60 times per minute and live much less than turtles which breathe 3-4 times a minute or less.

Emotional:
"Breath is the king of mind." B.K.S. Iyengar

• 5) Relaxation. Our exhalation activates the parasympathetic nervous system. This is the branch of the nervous system responsible for relaxation, recovery, and growth. 
• 6) Release of endorphins. These are feel-good hormones that our bodies produce. Endorphins promote a feeling of well-being and provide pain-relief.

Spiritual:
"Breath is the movement of Spirit in the body." Dr. Andrew Weil,

• 7) Harmony. Here I include stronger sense of inner strength, feeling connected to the source of life, deeper sense of faith and peace, courage and commitment to truth, improved self-esteem and self-worth, stronger intuition, access to creativity.

Finally, it is not knowing what to do but doing what we know that makes a difference. So, here are 2 primary ways in which you can re-learn correct breathing.

• Formally.

Set aside 5 minutes every day to practice deep, diaphragmatic breathing focusing on your exhalation. Sit with your back straight. Either on a chair or in a comfortable position on the floor. Bring your attention to your breath.
Gently Prolong your exhalation. In the beginning, you can count "1001" ... "1002" ... "1003" etc. This will give you a sense about how long you exhale in seconds. Aim for 8 to 10 seconds exhalation.
Gradually work your way to a 30-second exhalation. With practice and persistence, you can take it to 2 minutes. Major beneficial changes happen in our body when we reach the 2-minute mark, Taoists say. According to their records, breath masters had lived up to 800 years.
Over time extend your practice to 10, 20, 30, 40 minutes more than once a day. 
How do you feel at the start and at the end of your practice? How is your emotional state affected by the practice throughout the day? How is your relationship to the universe affected?

• Informally

Use opportunities throughout your day to take an exhale to its end. Suitable occasions: upon awakening, before drinking your first morning glass of water, when you leave your home, when you enter work, when you wait for something, before and after each meal, you get the idea...
Formal and informal practice work best in tandem. Soon you will naturally breathe correctly most of the time. Just apply yourself to the practices.Today you learnt about the importance of breathing as a gateway to health and well-being. Now you know that correct breathing is slower, deep in your belly and focuses on the exhale. You, also know what benefits you can expect by correct breathing. Above all, you have the practical means of re-learning correct breathing.
By the way, the reason why I referred to it as 're-learning' throughout the article is simple. It is because you knew and did all that when you were a baby.
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Remember, you already know how valuable your health is. A healthy body is a reward in and of itself. It also allows you to enjoy happiness and harmony in your life.