Wellness Key #1: Just Breathe

Some cultures believe that we are all born with a predetermined number of breaths, some assigned more breaths than others, and that wherever we are and whatever we’re doing when we take our last breath; that is the moment of our passing.  While I don’t subscribe to this theory, think about it this way:  If you knew you only had 5,000 breaths left, how would you breathe?  Me?  VEEEERY SLOOOOOOWLY!

Slow, deep breathing is probably the most important and yet undervalued key to wellness.  Oxygen is the body’s #1 fuel source.  Without it we die in minutes.  Conversely, Carbon Dioxide, which can kill you in high enough quantities, is a toxin you need to fully expel.

Thousands of years ago, Taoists monks observed that the animals who breathed the slowest, such as the elephant and tortoise, lived the longest; while the animals that breathed the fastest, like cats, dogs and birds, had very short life-spans.  From this observation, they deduced that in order to live longer, we need to breathe deeper.  They later realized, through meditation, that all matter, including the air, was imbued with energy they called “chi”.  And this was several thousand years before Einstein’s famous formula, E=MC2 , stating that all matter is energy!  In Chinese, “Chi” means two things: “life-force energy” and “breath”.  So, how is breath perceived as being synonymous with vital energy?

While Taoism relied on intuitive realizations, modern science has since discovered that there is in fact a powerful link between Breath and Energy.  You see, every cell in our body has a power plant called the mitochondria, which converts glycolytes (fats and sugars) into a liquid fuel called Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP).  When the cell has enough oxygen, it uses a process called Aerobic (with oxygen) Cellular Respiration, to make this conversion, and when your cell doesn’t have enough oxygen, it falls back on a different process called Anaerobic (without oxygen) Cellular Respiration.  What’s important for you to understand is that when your cells have enough oxygen to use Aerobic Respiration, they get 13 times more ATP or fuel!  So the more oxygen you give your body’s cells, the more energy they have to perform at their maximum, whether they be brain cells, heart cells, liver cells, muscle cells, or skin cells.

The deeper you breathe, the more oxygen you bring into the lungs and the more carbon dioxide you expel.  The slower you breathe, the more time you give the alveoli of your lungs to absorb oxygen and expel carbon dioxide.  So, imagine how much healthier you could be if every breath was full-in and full-out; if every cell in your body had enough fuel to operate at 100% efficiency.  As one Nobel Prize winning scientist put it, “Disease cannot thrive in an oxygen-rich environment.”

Scientific research has shown that deep breathing positively affects the brain, the digestive and immune systems, and the cardiovascular system.  It has been shown to reduce blood acid levels, thin the blood, reduce blood pressure, and reduce levels of cortisol (a stress response hormone that increases belly fat).  Dr. Mladen Golubic, of the Cleveland Clinic's Center for Integrative Medicine says that through deep breathing “"You can influence asthma; you can influence chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; you can influence heart failure."

Deep breathing also has a calming effect on our nerves. When you are stressed or upset, practice focusing only on your breath for a minute.  Then try to slow and deepen your breath for a few minutes.  Then try to absolutely maximize your breath, so that you breathe all the way in, just beyond what is comfortable, pause, and then breathe all the way out and pause until you have to breathe in again.  Then repeat.  In just a few minutes, you’ll feel calmer and you’ll think more clearly.  This is also a good practice when you’re having trouble falling asleep.  Focusing on your breath, takes your mind into the body and distracts it from the 10,000 things going on in your life.  Practicing intentionally slow, deep breaths will also expand your lung capacity and allow you to breathe deeper even when you aren’t trying to.

If you find that you are easily “winded” during exercise, it is most likely because you aren’t focusing on taking deep and slow breaths.  When running, for example, try breathing in for as many steps as you can, then out for as many steps as you can.  Typically, full exhalation takes longer than inhalation, so your breathing rhythm may be 3 steps in & 4 steps out, or 5 steps in & 7 steps out, depending on the depth of your breath.  The more often you engage in aerobic exercise with deep breathing, the more your lung capacity will expand over time.  This even works for people with an asthma diagnoses.

There actually is a technique to full, deep breathing, called abdominal or diaphragmatic breathing.  As a demonstration, stop right now, look down at your torso and take a deep breath.  Did you observe your chest expanding or your belly expanding, or both?  Most adults will probably take a deep chest breath, but have you ever watched a baby sleep on its back and seen its belly going up and down with each breath?  This is actually our natural state of breathing.  The chest or thoracic breath is the breath we take when we are stressed, and it is, in fact, more shallow.  The image below demonstrates the difference between belly breathing and thoracic breathing.

Notice that the chest breath actually pulls the diaphragm muscle toward the head, interfering with the expansion of the lungs, while expanding the abdomen during the inhale pulls the diaphragm down toward the pelvis, allowing the lungs to fill completely.  To easily practice this technique, while lying down, place one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly, and feel which hand rises or falls when you breathe in deeply.  Next, try to imagine the air bypassing your lungs and going straight into your abdomen, filling it up like a balloon, and lifting your belly hand up toward the ceiling.  At first, you may need to intentionally pull your abdominal muscles out and up, thus pushing the belly hand toward the ceiling, while trying not to move your chest hand.  It may feel difficult at first, but be assured that if you continue to practice this for only 5 minutes, it will become easier, and that with regular practice, deep abdominal breathing will replace shallow chest breathing as your default.

- Michael Raphael, LMT, CPT

The Keys to Wellnes

A few months ago a good friend of mine told me that once I turned 40 everything was going to start falling apart.  I said that may be true for him, but it’s not my truth.  Modern physics tells us that linear time is an illusion and likewise, modern medicine has begun to understand that chronological age is irrelevant.  What really matters is your physiological age, and that is primarily determined by how well you take care of your health.

In the back and forth about how to solve our nation’s escalating healthcare costs, one thing not being discussed is the definition of healthcare.  Going to the doctor or the emergency room when things go wrong should be called “sickcare”.  True healthcare is you taking care of your health.  The three main aspects of true healthcare are nutrition, movement, and stress management.  You’ve probably heard the expressions, “Junk in; junk out”, as it relates to nutrition, and “Use it or lose it”, as it relates to movement or exercise, but less well known are the devastating effects of stress on your health and physiological age.

In this article I’ll introduce you to the 10 most important Keys to Wellness, included within those three main categories of movement, nutrition, and stress management.  And in the series of articles to follow, I will detail how you can use each of these Keys to unlock your best health. I’ll tell you about the scientific research behind the Keys, and give you real life examples.  My goal is to educate, empower, and inspire you to become as healthy as you can be.  I won’t beat you up about your less healthy behaviors, and I won’t tell you that you have to make drastic changes in order to become healthier.  Instead, I’ll give you lots of small steps you can easily take along your path to wellness.  Even if you believe you’re already healthy, read on; I’m willing to bet you’ll learn something else you can do to be even healthier.

The Keys

#1.  Deep Breathing  -  Probably the most important and yet undervalued key to wellness.  Oxygen is the body’s #1 fuel source.  Without it you die in minutes.  The more of it you take in, the more fuel all of your cells have to function at an optimal level. Carbon Dioxide, which can kill you in high enough quantities, is a toxin you need to fully expel.  When you’re stressed or upset, practice focusing only on your breath.  Then try to slow and deepen your breath.  In just a few short minutes, you’ll feel calmer and you’ll think more clearly.  Practicing intentionally slow, deep breaths will expand your lung capacity and allow you to breathe deeper even when you aren’t trying to.

#2.  Drinking More Water  -  Water is the body’s second most important fuel source, without which you’ll die in a few days.  It comprises 45 to 60 percent of your body weight (depending on your health).  One of the main factors in physiological aging is dehydration.  Water was the original beverage, and is still the healthiest beverage you can drink, bar none.  Just drinking more water can help you shed fat.  Need I say more?  I will in a later article.  In the meantime, nutritional experts say the average person needs to drink, at least, 2 liters of water per day.  So start carrying a water bottle with you wherever you go, and keep drinking throughout the day.

#3.  Eating More Fruits & Veggies  -  I know… now I’m starting to sound like your mother.  However, Fruits and vegetables are the ONLY way we can really get all of the bio-available vitamins, minerals, and phyto-nutrients that our bodies need to fight off diseases and stay healthy.  Even the conservative FDA says you need 5 half cup servings of fruit or vegetables per day in order to stay healthy.  If you’re not getting anywhere near that amount, don’t feel guilty.  Most Americans aren’t, but then most Americans aren’t extremely healthy either.  So, start by doing what you can to add more vegetables to your dinner, and snack on an apple, banana, carrot, or celery stick instead of Doritos or a cupcake.

#4.  Flexibility  -  Another one of the main factors determining your physiological age, is your body’s flexibility, or lack thereof.  After all, the main key to mobility is flexibility.  Regular stretching is an obvious solution, but is so seldom practiced by most people, even those who exercise regularly.  It simply makes sense that stretching your muscles increases their range of motion, allowing the joints to move farther without tearing muscles or tendons.  Stretching is a nice gentle way to start getting more movement, and is even more necessary for those who already exercise regularly, if you want to continue to be able to do the activities you love.  However there’s more to Flexibility than the physical.  It is also important to be mentally and emotionally flexible.  We’ll go deeper into this in a later article.

#5.  Exercise  -  For some of you, the mere mention of this word brings up feelings of frustration or anxiety.  I get it.  I really do.  So, let’s just talk about Movement.  Humans were designed/evolved to be hunter/gatherers.  Originally we burned off the calories we consumed in our efforts to find the next meal.  Even though most Americans haven’t lived that way for a few generations now, our bodies have yet to evolve to accommodate our more sedentary lifestyles.  This is the primary culprit behind so many people being “overweight”, and actually plays a significant role in a vast array of other diseases prevalent in our society.  So, no matter what your weight, you need to get movement to stay healthy.  Not yet fit enough for vigorous exercises?  Start by walking around your neighborhood in the evening with a friend or family member at a brisk pace.  Or start walking around the corridors of your office building during lunch.  Oh, and take the stairs.

#6.  Stress Management  -  Stress is gaining a reputation in the medical industry as a vicious killer, as it has been found to be either the sole culprit or a co-conspirator in almost every disease known to man.  This is partially because one of the main effects of stress is suppression of your immune system.  And just reading the list of Stress’s other negative effects would make you start to feel ill.  But don’t stress about it.  There are so many simple little steps you can take to reduce your stress, including 3 things we’ve already talked about: Deep Breathing, Stretching, and Exercise.  I’ll share more with you in a later article.

#7.  Sleep  -  Studies show that we are a sleep deprived nation.  I certainly fall into that group.  But living in a condo that has way too many mirrored walls the last couple of years, I’ve begun to notice that my wrinkles are FAR less visible after a good night’s sleep than when I’m tired.  So I’ve been making an effort to get more of that “beauty rest”, because I know that the condition of my skin reflects my internal health.

#8. Eliminating Poisons  -  This one is mostly understood.  If you’re smoking at all, or drinking more than an average of two alcoholic beverages per day, you probably know you need to either quit or cut back.  But what about lesser poisons like soft drinks and other sources of sugar and high fructose corn syrup?  And what emotional poisons are you holding on to that may be affecting your health more than you realize?

#9.  Be Happy  -  Are you sick and tired of a lot of things?  If so, chances are you are literally making yourself sick. The health benefits of happiness and a positive attitude are immeasurable, but scientists have been doing a lot more measuring over the last 20 years and have accumulated a mountain of evidence showing the powerful link between how you feel and… well… how you feel.  The good news is that you can learn to be happy, no matter what your circumstances. You can start by contemplating the idea that happiness is the path, not the destination

#10.  Practicing Good Posture – Several generations ago, parents used to teach their kids “proper” posture.  But back then, it was more about appearances than anything else, and because a lot of those kids didn’t care about that, they swore they’d never make their kids do it.  However, poor posture is one of the main causes of musculoskeletal pain, and headaches.  Furthermore, our posture not only sends subtle cues to others about us, it also tells our brains how we feel.  So, a more confident posture causes the brain to release feel-good hormones that make us feel more confident, while slouching has the opposite effect.