Oxygen is THE most vital resource, and breathing the most vital bodily function. We can live for a few weeks without food, a few days without water, but only a few minutes without breathing. THE MOST VITAL.
Sadly many of us do not consciously consider oxygen a resource, nor value the power of breathing. This disconnection from the body and from its power minimizes potential. A turn towards the polarity, towards the power within by resourcing conscious breathing will optimize potential, cleansing included.
At the center of the respiratory system is the heart, an organ that sends out clean oxygenated blood and nourishment to the whole body while simultaneously picking up toxins. Those toxins come back to the heart, think clean mountain river leaving the heart, returning sewer like. That gaseous toxic blood is spread thin around the exterior of the lungs, wherein met with inhaled oxygen, combustion occurs. It’s a purification process, a cleansing. This is the body transforming sewer into nourishment in the time it takes to take one breath. That is power.
Unfortunately most of us ignore this power, settling for a shallow unconscious breathing experience often for days, months, weeks, and sometimes even years. The problem, the depth of combustion matches the depth of breathing. Shallow breathing cleanses the smallest portion of toxins, that which lives top lung space, and recirculates sewer not met by oxygen. This renders the cellular function of the blood overwhelmed and underpaid, creating dis-ease vulnerability. Deep breathing is literal cleansing, at the most vital level, setting the body and mind up for success. This is how breath work leads to life optimization.
Another derailment shallow breathing offers is the triggered release of stress hormones into the endocrine system, when the respiratory system hangs out in the shallow the nervous system believes there is a lack of safety. Because, shallow breathing is meant to occur out of necessity, as a re-allocation of energy to support and produce an evacuation from harm, the nervous system reads duress and sends out the troops through the adrenal system. We can reverse the amount of stress hormones coursing through the waters of our body by deepening our breath and strengthening the respiratory system, by pulling out of barely surviving mode. This is optimization. This is cleansing power.
Once the bodily system demands are reduced and the nervous system takes a chill, energetic medicine can step forward and begin to work on the problems contributing to the energies of dis-ease in private human experience. This is the depth at which alchemy occurs, medicine I tell you. From this place of vital power you can extend into working on the energy projected into all dietary consumption of any kind.
I invite you to note the widening of third eye vision from this bit of education and take it with you, deeper. Let this knowledge support a breath work based meditation experience with yourself, or with a practitioner.
You can join me, Audrey at The Breathing Co. In Rainbeau’s 7 day cleanse or through private curation. I invite you to breathe motivated by the truth.
Sat Nam
Audrey O’Brien is a kundalini based breath work + meditation therapist and lifestyle curation coach, living minimal and rural in Woodland UT with her lover of 21 years and their 6 kids. You can follow her wild journey through trauma recovery, disease, and lifestyle curation through her writing rooted in love for humanity on Instagram @theBreathingCo. She has a passion for leading others through the rugged wilderness of the ego and pain body to find sustainable healing and happiness. Learn more on her website at http://www.thebreathingco.com