Adult humans normally breathe at the rate of one breath every six to eight seconds and inhale an average of sixteen thousand quarts of air each day. If nothing is done to restrict breathing, it will happen naturally and fully. But people continually inhibit natural breathing in many ways—poor posture, tight or binding clothes, “speed eating,” exposure to noxious substances, smoking, lack of exercise, plus habitual patterns of emotional stress.

When breathing is obstructed or suppressed, the cells in the body do not receive the full amount of oxygen necessary to carry out their assigned functions. You may feel sleepy or irritable, or develop a headache. One reason that exercise is so valuable is that it forces you to breathe more fully, literally replenishing your dwindling supply of oxygen.

Hindus call it prana—the life force carried in the breath. Many languages use the same word for both breath and spirit, or life force.

The breath is life. That is why the yogi says that you "half-live" because you "half-breathe."

In Hebrew, the word for soul or spirit is rauch. In Greek, it is pneuma. In Latin, spiritus. Each of these words also means “breath.” In English, to inhale is to “inspire”—to take in the spirit. To exhale, or expire, means to release the spirit. All of life can be observed as a taking in and a giving out, of movement and rest, of controlling and letting go. The way you breathe is an excellent metaphor for the way you live your life.

The information and exercises recommended here encourage you to start paying attention to your breathing as a form of relaxation, stress reduction, and healing.

Breath and Stress
Breathe to Relax
Experience a Full Breath
Breath for Healing

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