If you’ve been dealing with persistent tension, poor posture or nagging pain, it’s worth checking in on your breathing. How you breathe not only reflects your movement quality it also holds the power to change it for the better. Most people understand breathing’s role as a life-sustaining function with stress-relieving properties. (Think deep inhale, deep exhale.) But the way you breathe can also reveal how efficiently and effectively you move…….Continue reading….
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Source: CNN
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The rate and depth of breathing is automatically controlled by the respiratory centers that receive information from the peripheral and central chemoreceptors. These chemoreceptors continuously monitor the partial pressures of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the arterial blood. The first of these sensors are the central chemoreceptors on the surface of the medulla oblongata of the brain stem which are particularly sensitive to pH as well as the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid.
The second group of sensors measure the partial pressure of oxygen in the arterial blood. Together the latter are known as the peripheral chemoreceptors, and are situated in the aortic and carotid bodies. Information from all of these chemoreceptors is conveyed to the respiratory centers in the pons and medulla oblongata, which responds to fluctuations in the partial pressures of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the arterial blood by adjusting the rate and depth of breathing.
In such a way as to restore the partial pressure of carbon dioxide to 5.3 kPa (40 mm Hg), the pH to 7.4 and, to a lesser extent, the partial pressure of oxygen to 13 kPa (100 mm Hg). For example, exercise increases the production of carbon dioxide by the active muscles. This carbon dioxide diffuses into the venous blood and ultimately raises the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the arterial blood. This is immediately sensed by the carbon dioxide chemoreceptors on the brain stem.
The respiratory centers respond to this information by causing the rate and depth of breathing to increase to such an extent that the partial pressures of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the arterial blood return almost immediately to the same levels as at rest. The respiratory centers communicate with the muscles of breathing via motor nerves, of which the phrenic nerves, which innervate the diaphragm, are probably the most important.
Automatic breathing can be overridden to a limited extent by simple choice, or to facilitate swimming, speech, singing or other vocal training. It is impossible to suppress the urge to breathe to the point of hypoxia but training can increase the ability to hold one’s breath. Conscious breathing practices have been shown to promote relaxation and stress relief but have not been proven to have any other health benefits.
Other automatic breathing control reflexes also exist. Submersion, particularly of the face, in cold water, triggers a response called the diving reflex. This has the initial result of shutting down the airways against the influx of water. The metabolic rate slows down. This is coupled with intense vasoconstriction of the arteries to the limbs and abdominal viscera, reserving the oxygen that is in blood and lungs at the beginning of the dive almost exclusively for the heart and the brain.
The diving reflex is an often-used response in animals that routinely need to dive, such as penguins, seals and whales. It is also more effective in very young infants and children than in adults. Abnormal breathing patterns include Kussmaul breathing, Biot’s respiration and Cheyne–Stokes respiration. Other breathing disorders include shortness of breath (dyspnea), stridor, apnea, sleep apnea (most commonly obstructive sleep apnea), mouth breathing, and snoring.
Many conditions are associated with obstructed airways. Chronic mouth breathing may be associated with illness. Hypopnea refers to overly shallow breathing; hyperpnea refers to fast and deep breathing brought on by a demand for more oxygen, as for example by exercise. The terms hypoventilation and hyperventilation also refer to shallow breathing and fast and deep breathing respectively, but under inappropriate circumstances or disease.
However, this distinction (between, for instance, hyperpnea and hyperventilation) is not always adhered to, so that these terms are frequently used interchangeably. A range of breath tests can be used to diagnose diseases such as dietary intolerances. A rhinomanometer uses acoustic technology to examine the air flow through the nasal passages. Certain breathing patterns have a tendency to occur with certain moods.
Due to this relationship, practitioners of various disciplines consider that they can encourage the occurrence of a particular mood by adopting the breathing pattern that it most commonly occurs in conjunction with. For instance, and perhaps the most common recommendation is that deeper breathing which utilizes the diaphragm and abdomen more can encourage relaxation.
Practitioners of different disciplines often interpret the importance of breathing regulation and its perceived influence on mood in different ways. Buddhists may consider that it helps precipitate a sense of inner-peace, holistic healers that it encourages an overall state of health and business advisers that it provides relief from work-based stress.
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The Power of Breath: The Art of Breathing Well for Harmony, Happiness, and Health.
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Diaphragm function for core stability”.
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