PHYSIOLOGY OF BREATHING

Articles In This Section:

· YOUR BODY CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT AIR

· PHYSIOLOGY OF BREATHING

· YOGA HELPS WITH YOUR BREATHING

· PRANAYAMA ISN'T ALL OF THE BREATHING

· YOGA METHOD FOR BREATHING

· YOGA POSES

· MASTERING THE YOGA TECHNIQUES

· BREATHING TECHNIQUES

· ADVANCED YOGIS

First let us consider the purely physical side of breathing: Air is nourishment to our bodies just as much as food and drink. Air gives our blood stream the supply of oxygen it must have in order to feed itself so that it may, in turn, feed the tissues, nerves, glands and vital organs. Without it our skin, bones, teeth and hair could not remain in condition. Our digestion—the process of utilizing the food we eat—fails at once without a proper supply of oxygen to the blood. Even our thinking processes are slowed down without intake and exhalation of fresh air—which is the reason mental sluggishness overtakes us in an ill-ventilated room. Some authorities have even come to believe there is a direct relationship between a child's I.Q. and the supply of oxygen in its system—a low I.Q. being often traceable to bad posture, adenoids or merely bad breathing habits. Change these, and a sluggish youngster often blossoms overnight into a bright, responsive one!

To function properly, the brain needs three times more oxygen than the rest of our organs; and unless this is provided it will try to appropriate its supply by drawing on the overall allotment. This explains why so many city people, working at sedentary jobs, "using their heads," so to speak, all day long, tend to become debilitated and have greater susceptibility to germs and infections than persons who lead active outdoor lives. Sedentary individuals are permanently oxygen-starved. Yet this situation can be avoided at will, as this chapter will show you.

In a single day we breathe about 23,000 times. The average volume of air taken in with a single breath is about 20 cubic inches, depending on a person's size, sex, posture, the nature of the surrounding atmosphere and one's physical and emotional state. However, with proper attention given to the breathing act, this volume may be increased to 100 or even 130 cubic inches per breath. In other words, careful re-orientation of your habits can provide you with five times the oxy gen, and rid you of five times the carbon dioxide, with which you habitually function.

In Chapter III we dwelt very briefly on the physiology of breathing. Here is what takes place during the breathing process: When you breathe properly—that is, with the mouth closed so that the air is inhaled through the nasal passages— oxygen travels down the pharynx (rear of the throat), the larynx (roughly the region of the Adam's apple), and the trachia or windpipe until it reaches the bronchial tubes. By then most of the dust and bacteria have been filtered out by the mucous membranes, or the moist lining of the nose. Mucous, by the way, in addition to acting as a filter substance, also has certain germicidal properties—another reason why it is so important to cultivate the habit of breathing through the nose, never through the mouth. A third reason, already mentioned elsewhere, is that while traveling this somewhat longer road the air is warmed to proper body temperature, which means extra insurance against catching colds.