The Importance Of Breathing Exercises
Q: I love your show and watch it regularly on my PBS channel, But Why Do You Include Breathing Exercises in all of Your Functional Fitness Workouts?
Jenny P. Orlando, Florida
A: As seen in Suzanne Andrews Functional Fitness Arthritis Relief Walking Workout
If you're like many people, you've probably never given much thought to breathing.
It's just one of the body's natural functions, right? How could paying attention to your breathing possibly help you look younger, lose weight and ease joint pain?
The most powerful muscle for breathing, your diaphragm, is responsible for 75% of the volume of each breath you take. In just one red blood cell, there are one billion oxygen molecules being transported throughout your entire body.
Diaphragmatic breathing increases your body's supply of oxygen, eliminating the brain's stress response... and by curbing stress, it sets the stage for effective weight loss, retards arthritis, and helps reduce wrinkles.
During an interview for Functional Fitness, Margaret Chang, MD revealed, “Stress causes cellular aging, stress prematurely ages the body, and ages the DNA in the cells of the body, so stress can retard the process of aging. Since osteoarthritis is a disease of aging, by retarding stress relief, you retard osteoarthritis as well.”
Now, lest you think that you have to spend your whole day in a sort of meditative trance, diaphragmatic breathing can be practiced anytime, anywhere.
1. Inhale through your nose for 2 counts like you’re smelling flowers.
2. Exhale through your mouth for 4 counts like you’re blowing out your birthday candles.
Repeat three times whenever you feel stressed. Do you want to know how to look and feel younger – ask!
Healthiest Blessings,
Suzanne Andrews
