Air is The Currency of Life
by Anne H. Spencer, Ph.D.
Copyright
The ability to relax is necessary for the body, mind and spirit to function effectively. So often we
find ourselves short of energy. We ask, "Where has the energy gone?" Every time we take action, we
use energy - we call this stress. It produces tension on the physical, mental, emotional and often
spiritual systems of the human being. When we relax the tension we store our energy. The body,
mind and spirit need to find a balance between tension and relaxation. Learning to breathe correctly
is vital to our balance, because air is the currency of life. Without air we no longer exist in physical
form. We can control the quality of our air intake and output via our muscles and thus control our
ability to relax. Physiology demonstrates that when a muscle is relaxed the nerve connected to that
muscle relaxes. This in turn relaxes the cells in the brain connected to the nerve. The largest muscle
in the body is the diaphragm and is controlled by the involuntary nervous system.
Involuntary Nervous System
By learning to relax the diaphragm you can exercise a relaxing influence throughout the
involuntary nervous system. However, due to the fact that it is controlled by the involuntary nervous
system, you cannot relax your diaphragm through the effort of willpower. However, since the
diaphragm is the floor of your lungs, through the use of specific physical breath control you can
relax your diaphragm. Technically, this is known as diaphragmatic breathing. It is a method of
breathing and breath control which is mastered by radio, television and movie stars; opera and
concert singers; public speakers, etc. Because they are constantly before audiences, they cannot
afford to be under nervous stress or have their voice hampered in any way. They depend on
diaphragmatic breathing to keep their voice in top quality and to stay balanced! If you learn to take
a dozen or so diaphragmatic breaths each day, your rewards will be fantastic. Your voice will sound
deeper and more resonant. As a bonus, you will feel better and the effects of over stress will be
greatly diminished. Basic Principles How do you master diaphragmatic breathing? It is very easy.
Let's understand the basic principles first. Place your left hand on your chest and your right hand on
your stomach, now take a deep breath. Observe that your chest comes out and your stomach pulls in
when you inhale. That is learned behavior. Remember, back in gym class when the teacher would
bellow, "OK, now for some deep breathing exercises. Inhale - stomach in and chest out." It was
always, "Stomach in and chest out." Now, do just that and hold it for 5 seconds. Did you notice the
tense feeling in your shoulders and back? That's muscle tension, which in turn creates nervous
tension. Now exhale, the chest goes down and the stomach puts the tension on the diaphragm. That
muscle rises to a dome in the middle and, because of some abdominal organs attached to it, when
your stomach comes out, it pulls down on this dome. When the dome is up the diaphragm is relaxed.
When the dome is down, the diaphragm is tensed. Thus, during the sixteen hours or more that you
are awake each day, you place undue tension on your back and shoulders when you inhale and on
the diaphragm when you exhale. This is not how the physical system was originally designed. It
happened when Homo- sapiens stood up and began to walk on two feet. When you lie down or are
sleeping your body is in a much more relaxed natural position for optimum physical functioning.
You are usually breathing more deeply and the diaphragm is not under tension. R & R By
mastering the art of diaphragmatic breathing and by taking some of those breaths while you are
awake each day, you will be able to introduce an additional eight hours of relaxation into every day
of your life. It matters not if the eight hours of R & R are in a straight stretch or grabbed a few
seconds at a time throughout the day, the benefits are the same. You have an improved voice, your
shoulders and back are more balanced, your thinking is more accurate and you are more effective in
all of your endeavors. You feel better at the end of the day. Fatigue is gone. The technique Now to
learn how to achieve this balance, place your left hand on your chest and your right hand on your
stomach and inhale. This time as you inhale, push the stomach out and fill the chest completely with
the new air. On the exhale the stomach will naturally collapse and the chest will expand. Imagine
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