Breathe deeply (DW#678)
The second rule of optimal breathing is to breathe deeply.
When we are stressed, our breath becomes very shallow, reaching only until our chest. When we breathe like this, it is a signal to the body to be on high alert.
Breathing like this fuels the flight or fight mechanism of our nervous system. We body gets more tense and we cannot relax. If we are in a situation of danger this mechanism really helps us by driving the oxygen and energy where it is needed, to our arms and legs: to fight the situation or to run away from danger. It does this by turning the energy away from organs that do not need it in the present situation . . .our brains, the digestive system, the lymphatic system that repairs the body.
Breathings shallow is less than useful (and destructive) when there is no danger or only imagined danger.
This is why it is important to practice breathing deeply.
So, go ahead and use your diaphragm – an important and much underutilized muscle in our body.
Fill up the lower part of your lungs by taking mellow, quiet, DEEP breaths into your belly.
Repeat. Again. And again.
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