Prana: life force
Prana is the life force that is carried on the breath.
Did you know that according to yogic tradition, if you breathe 15 times per minute, you will live to be 75 or 80 years old, but if you breathe only 10 times per minute you will live to 100? Not bad, right?
Read my latest post to understand how this works.
Does this have to do with stress reduction, control of the breathing muscles or something else? Let’s see…
Point one
When you are feeling calm and safe, at rest, or engaged in a pleasant social exchange, your breathing slows and deepens (rest and digest/a parasympathetic nervous system response), which produces a relaxing effect. This is the optimal state for the body to replenish and to heal.
Conversely, when you are feeling frightened, in pain, or tense and uncomfortable, your breathing speeds up and becomes shallower (fight or flight/a sympathetic nervous system response), which means several body’s reactions to stress are now activated. This is the body in a fear response sending all of its resources to fight the perceived threat; which nowadays could be just about anything and everything:g from a global virus to a distressing email.
We can look at this two ways. When we slow down the breath we enter rest and digest, but also when we are in rest and digest the breath is naturally slower. Slower breath, longer life due to our resources being utilized for replenishment and healing.
Point two
There is a wonderful muscle that is part of our breathing mechanism called the diaphragm. It is actually the biggest muscle in the body so it must be important!
Optimal respiration requires active control of the diaphragm. Control of the diaphragm means that the lower ribs stay low and only expand laterally, and the abdomen expands on an inhale instead of the chest. This is sometimes called Diaphragmatic breathing (DB). DB not only helps us to breathe more slowly, but it also moves the lower organs giving them a gentle massage which helps them to process more fully due to the pressure of the diaphragmatic muscle pushing against them. Something that happens very minimally in short shallow breathing.
In conclusion, breathing more slowly is important for our stress levels, but knowing how to move the diaphragm can help our general health.
Take a look at my video on Instagram on three part breath. This does both in one go!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CRR4JlTjrhM/
Don't forget to tune in to class this month. We are taking an in depth look at the breath in our yoga practice. See you on the mat!
Let’s continue the conversation. Pop a comment down below!
