The circulatory system governs blood flow in the body. The respiratory system governs breathing. Both of these things are vital for staying alive. These systems work together to provide life force to the body. Sometimes these systems can be off balance. Poor blood flow to the limbs can result in feeling cold, numbness/tingling, and/or lack of mobility. Since these systems are interlinked so deeply, often time poor blood flow results from not getting enough oxygen into the lungs, and into the heart, therefore not enough oxygen through the entire body. I want to talk about the importance of breathing. I also, will connect these two systems with the nervous system further into this article. Inhaling oxygen into the lungs and exhaling carbon dioxide out of the lungs is essential for life. Creating the space for prana, or life force, to entire the body. Sometimes the lungs, though, can become dense with “stale air” air that wasn’t released fully. How does this happen? In our culture it is a society norm to be consistently on the in breath. Breathing in, taking in, consuming without…breathing out, letting out, releasing. A Lot of beings are “holding their breath” for something bad to happen, something good to happen, something else to happen outside of the norm. This lack of exhale adds up quite literally to heavy lungs, and poor oxygenated blood to the body.
What can we do about it? Exhale. Let it go. Having a daily meditation practice or rhythmic breathing practice is proven to increase physiological effects in the body. Breathing rhythmically gives us an opportunity to let go of that stale air in our lungs allowing space to breath in fresh new oxygenated air. Have you ever had a super messy room? Like clothes everywhere, bed’s not made, papers and books strewn across the floor? Then you clean it, throw some stuff away, organize what you wanna keep and suddenly you have space to lay down on your floor and your bed? You have space to dance around and do a burpee?(whether or not you would actually do a burpee there is space for it)… That is what it’s like in the lungs, as soon as there is space open, new fresh sensations occur. Once a being starts to breathe rhythmically, the chest expands, the belly relaxs, and then..oh yeah.. the body moves into the PNS branch. If you don’t know what PNS is, I suggest, if you haven’t already, you read my article about the Central Nervous System further down this blog.
When the body is in PNS, it has space to relax, revitalize, and refresh. It brings in opportunity for creation to spark, for inspiration to uplift, and for you to become more fully ALIVE. Blood starts moving smoother and more consistently, muscles start relaxing when receiving fresh oxygen, bones may settle more comfortably. Then your body starts to notice itself, and create what it needs in order to heal. Whether that is new cells to break down damaged tissue, new cells to build new tissue, releasing toxins, supplying nutrients, releasing tension, and/or relaxing tissues thus moving and releasing blocked energy through and out of the body. All from and in breath and an out breath! The cool thing about breathing is that our body is programmed to do it automatically for our hearts to stay beating; the amazing thing about your mind is you can consciously connect to your breathing, creating all of these health benefits wherever you are at, without any physical tools! Your body is always working for you. Sometimes you get to give it some attention and some care so it functions smoother and sharper.