13-Moon Date: Moon 10 Day 11
Yellow Self-Existing Warrior
We are on our way to better health if we add more vibrant food to our diets, increase our water intake and begin to connect more consciously with the air we breathe. Over 90% of the energy used by our bodies comes from oxygen we take in through the lungs and skin. Oxygen is our most important nutrient because obviously we wouldn’t be able to live without it for even a few minutes. Sometimes the word prana and air (breath) are used interchangeably. When we take air into our lungs, its energy is transferred into our bodies. In a forest, for example, or near the beach, do you notice how it feels like we can just breathe easily and deeper? This air is vibrant. This air has an enhanced energy field. If the air we breathe regularly is circulated through air conditioning or heating ducts or smoke filled, this air would be the opposite of vibrant or charged. Of course, one of the most harmful things we can do for our lungs is to smoke cigarettes (or cigars) on a regular basis, especially the national brands.
“Every time you inhale smoke from a cigarette (or cigar), you kill some of the air sacks in your lungs, called alveoli. These air sacks are where the oxygen that you breathe in is transferred into your blood. Alveoli don’t grow back, so when you destroy them, you have permanently destroyed part of your lungs. Smoking paralyzes the cilia that line your lungs. Cilia are little hairlike structures that move back and forth to sweep particles out of your lungs. When you smoke, the cilia can’t move and can’t do their job. So dust, pollen, pollution, and other things that you inhale sit in your lungs and build up. Also, there are a lot of particles in smoke that get into your lungs. Since your cilia are paralyzed because of the smoke and can’t clean them out, the particles sit in your lungs and form tar.”
Quitting smoking might not be easy to do, but it will be so much worth it when you start seeing your quality of life return with your quality of breath. It would be very hard for our bodies to regenerate without enough oxygen. Oxygen is Life. Beginning to breathe more and more fresh air is a very important step in our healing. Not only must we breath fresh air, but we must also learn to breathe fully and consciously. We breathe all day to stay alive, but most people are only using about 10% of their breaths potential capacity. Although, not breathing deeply does not harm us directly, it can have long term negative effects on our bodies.
Deep breathing exercises should be done using our stomach muscles. We need to let our stomach go out as far as possible as you inhale through your nostrils and you can completely fill your lungs and stomach with air. Pause for a couple of seconds. Then exhale out all the air from our lungs and stomach as our stomach gets flatter. Focus your attention on the two pauses that occur while breathing. First between inhalation and exhalation -and then between exhalation and inhalation. Repeat this process over and over mindfully. Just by doing this we will start getting in touch with deep breathing and immediately start feeling the healing benefits.
Affirm: I am healing myself with each breath of fresh air i take in. I am breathing deeper and deeper, relaxing with each exhale.
