Air – The Key to Cell Power

Air is so important that we will die in minutes without it. This means that every cell in the body is affected by our breathe. There are roughly 100 trillion cells in our body. Each cell is a self contained functioning unit that takes in nutrients and oxygen, convert the nutrients to energy, does a specialized job (red blood cells carry oxygen, white blood cells fight infections, heart cell form heart muscles wall to pump blood, nephron cells (kidney) filter out toxins and impurities, etc.), and replicate itself. In order for it to carry out all these functions, it needs air and glucose to create a chemical reaction that produces energy. The energy created is used to power all the activities within a cell just like electricity is used to power our electrical appliances. Without air, our cells can only perform the first step of converting the glucose into energy, but this does not make enough energy for the cell to do its job. This lead to death.

Breathing is so vital to our survival and our health yet many of us take it for granted. If you look at babies, you will notice that they all know how to breath properly. As we grow, many of us acquire shallow breathing habits where we breath by moving our chest and shoulders. There are many causes for shallow breathing such as posture, anxiety, or stress. When we are under stress, our body naturally take fast and shallow breathes and we habitually adapt to breath that way. This use only a small area of our lungs and makes it harder for our cells to get the oxygen it needs to function properly. The body has to work harder to move the limited oxygen to all our cells. We should not make the body work harder to maintain our health since it already has too many things to do. To change this bad breathing habit, you only need to be aware of your breathing. When you notice that you are taking shallow breaths, stop and begin taking deep breaths. When you take deep breaths, you use all of your lungs to transfer oxygen to our blood. Some of the benefits of deep breathing according to Michael Grant White author of Secrets of Optimal Natural Breathing Development (White 2010), are:

• Gives us more energy
• Reduces mental and physical fatigue
• Eliminates waste
• Supplies oxygen especially for the brain and eyes which requires a high level of oxygen
• Calms the mind
• Relaxes muscles
• Massages the internal organs with the diaphragm
• Improves circulation to all areas of the body
• Eases stress on the heart

What is a deep breathe? A deep breath require you to breath using your diaphragm. This means that you move your stomach in and out rather than move your chest and shoulders. This draws the air deep and full into our lungs. Stephen Co shared a breathing method called ‘Optimal Breathing Rhythm from his book Your Hands Can Heal You (Co, 2002), that we can all practice.

• Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth
• Breath using your diaphragm
• Inhale for seven counts
• Hold for one count
• Exhale for seven counts
• Hold for one count

This deep breathing rhythm will help bring more oxygen into your body, and calms your mind. It is an easy habit to develop and has great benefits for your body. Your life and health depend on each quality breathe you take, so make each one a deep calm breathe.