Okinawan Fighting Art "Ti": Breathing, yep I said breathing...

Blog Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)

"How we breathe affects us at a cellular level. Research shows changing the way we breathe can influence weight, athletic performance, allergies, asthma, snoring, mood, stress, focus and so much more. You can learn to breathe better and these exercises can help." - Kelly DiNardo, Breath Better with These Nine Exercises (NYT)

Stop mouth breathing. It irritates the lungs, increased risk of infection and takes away body moisture, linked to bad breath, sleep apnea and other health issues or conditions. Breathing through the nose filters, heats and treats the air we breathe. It promotes a fuller deeper diaphragmatic breathing process so we absorb more oxygen and increase our intake of nitric oxide, a molecule that opens blood vessels and increases circulation, etc.

Take more deep diaphragmatic through the nose breathing. I like to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. We tend to use about 10 percent of our diaphragm and that tends to burden the heart, strain the neck and shoulder muscles and keeps us in a low-grade state of stress. It's called "belly breathing."

Stand up stright, sit up striaght and lie down with the body straight or at least the upper body, neck, head, etc. to allow for proper breathing and this includes sleep.

Read the article for the recommended, yoga-like, exercises to gain full advantage of our natural breathing process. Now, for us in the dojo make sure you are sitting seiza for mokuso with the upper body properly aligned and upright and breathe slowly, deeply, rhythmically from the hara or belly with shoulders relaxed along with the neck and arms in a state of positive relaxation.

Breathing, yep I said breathing...

No comments:

Post a Comment