Why Breathing May Be at the Core of Your Energy Issues

It’s probably fair to say that everyone wants to have the richest, most dynamic, and most positive life possible – and all of this requires having as much energy as you possibly can, as well.

Life throws all sorts of responsibilities our way, ranging from the legal responsibility of a property owner in certain contexts, to the responsibility of being a parent, a supportive partner or spouse, and an effective employee, business owner, or artist.

All too often, we can find that our energy levels lag far behind where we would like them to be, in order to support our everyday lifestyles and help us to achieve our full potential.

According to James Nestor, author of the book “Breath,” a lot of our common energy issues – and even health issues – can be traced back to the way we breathe.

Here are some reasons why breathing may be at the core of your energy issues.

Because there is very good chance that you are doing it wrong

You might think that breathing is such a simple and automatic thing, that it would be very difficult to actually “get it wrong” – and that if anyone was “getting it wrong,” they would have to be a very small minority of people.

According to research done on the subject, however, it seems to be the case that the majority of people actually have badly disrupted breathing in a range of different ways.

If you breathe primarily into your upper chest, with your shoulders moving up and down, rather than diaphragmatically by expanding and deflating around your midsection, that is an issue. If you breathe through your mouth rather than your nose a lot of the time, that also comes with various serious health consequences.

Because there are many accounts throughout both recent and ancient history, describing people whose lives have been transformed by improving their breathing

In the book, “Breath,” the author describes an experiment he was subjected to which involved him plugging up his nostrils for 10 days and only breathing through his mouth during this period. In this time he developed sleep apnoea, was constantly exhausted, and experienced various negative health consequences.

As soon as he was done with that phase of the experiment and began breathing exclusively through his nose, all those issues went away and his health and energy increased dramatically.

The book also includes anecdotes such as a singing coach helping emphysema patients to regain normal functioning and energy levels, by improving the strength of their breathing muscles – and in particular, helping them to exhale more fully with each breath.

The bottom line is that there are many accounts throughout both recent and ancient history, of people whose lives have been transformed by improving their breathing.

Because the modern world undermines our breathing habits in a variety of different ways

In various different ways, the modern world seems to have an array of detrimental effects on our breathing habits and the quality of the breaths we take.

Sitting down too much, maintaining bad posture, not chewing enough – and eating soft foods – all influence the way we breathe both directly and indirectly.

To breathe well, you almost have to directly and consciously strive to buck the trends.