I was recently administered oxygen on a long haul flight when I became afflicted by the dreaded motion sickness. That big canister of goodness had an extraordinary effect on me. “The colour has really returned to you face!” exclaimed one of the cabin crew delightedly. Other flight attendants went onto share stories of the huge benefits they or other passengers had felt from being given the same good air. And a good breath of fresh air makes all the difference when nursing a hangover or feeling sleepy.
You may have noticed that meditation teachers go on about breathing a lot. Why is breathing so important? Well, if you think about it, it is the source of life itself and not only that, but of everything that’s good in us. Breathing well matters because it influences our energy levels, mental alertness, digestion and moods and emotions. When you begin to feel a drop in any of these, notice how you are breathing Are you taking a full, long breath from your abdomen or is your breathing shallow and centred high up in your body, around your chest area? How is your posture – are you making enough room inside you for the musculature of your breathing to do its job properly?
One thing breathing can make a huge difference to is fatigue. I have been so conscious of this when working with the symptoms of MS, which I have had all my adult life. Good breathing has substantially lessened the impact of fatigue on my life and anyone who has experienced regular bouts of fatigue will know what a huge difference that makes to absolutely EVERYTHING.
Here (click here to access the article) I share more about how our breathing can alter when we are fatigued and make symptoms worse and how to reverse that. There’s a video demonstration (click here to access the video ) and a delicious, visualisation breath meditation (link to a meditation on breathing.)
“Remember to breathe. It is after all, the secret of life.”
Gregory Maguire, http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3155594
