Hissing Breath

You may occasionally feel too scrambled to begin meditation or subtle breathing exercises immediately. That’s OK. On those truly crazy days it’s best to apply the brakes slowly and ease yourself gradually out of maximum stress into calm.

Let’s explore an INTERMEDIATE exercise that can help you STEP DOWN GRADUALLY from your hectic day. The more scattered you feel, the more important meditation and breathing exercises become to your mind, your body and your spirit.

The Hissing Breath gives you helpful AUDIBLE feedback. Later we will work on a few meditation-in-motion exercises that give you VISUAL feedback. Because you have had a particularly tough day it is especially important that you go about this exercise without pushing or forcing.

1. As always, empty first. Then inhale slowly and easily through your nose. Fill comfortably.
2. Send the air out as you make a long even hissing sound. . . hissssssssssssss. Empty comfortably without forcing. Almost immediately you will feel your systems slow down.
3. Continue as long as you remain focused and comfortable.

Remember that you never allow any discomfort (mind or body) with any breathing exercise. If the really long slow hissing out breath makes you a little light-headed, then try breathing out by making a “shhhhhh” sound. This moves the air out a little more quickly.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

The Body’s Shock Absorbers

Mother Nature showed her usual creative brilliance when she gave you three incredibly strong but lightweight bony cages that house:

1. The brain, hearing and visual equipment
2. The heart and lungs and
3. The baby-basket.

Bone is porous so it’s relatively light and, when broken, has the capability of mending itself stronger than ever. However, your body must have resilience and “give” as well as stability and strength. Nature has to keep your heart and lungs functioning constantly even when a 240-pound guard tackles you or when you fall out of the cherry tree or when you take a jolting step off a ladder.

If Nature hadn’t made our bony cages flexible, we would be a pile of bone bits the first time we were rear-ended. Notice that our feet are arched, that our spine is a long soft “spring” made up of gentle curves, that the forward end of each rib turns into tough elastic cartilage and that the bony spinal vertebrae are separated by plump squishy disks. Still, step off that ladder carefully.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Cherish Silence

If you never insist on quiet time alone, if you allow your senses to be constantly bombarded, if you mindlessly parrot the thoughts and actions and styles of others, if you become addicted to the crashing din of daily life, you will never discover the person you are or what you need or what you have to give. You will swirl around in a cultural backwash without the ability to chart your own course . . . . ever. Technology is an amazing gift but let it be your slave and not your master.

You are an original unique creation and not simply a faded copy of others. The more time you devote to exploring the music of your breathing, the more time you meditate, the more quiet time you schedule, the greater your awareness will be of who you are. Don’t live as a stranger to yourself.

Schedule time each week without talking, without listening to radio or watching television. Yup. No IPod. Your inner spirit will never raise its voice. If you are very very quiet, you may learn to listen. As Baba Ram Dass said, “The quieter you become, the more you hear.”

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Protect Yourself From Colds And Flu: Lesson Four

OK. The first three were easy. Four is more difficult. Unfortunately, it is also the most important. Fortunately, it is the last colds-and-flu lesson for now. Washing your hands often and correctly, touching shared stuff cautiously, using magic goo each time you exit a public place – all smart moves.

However, unless you scrub your hands (that includes cuticles and under your nails and under rings with a brush) every single time you touch a thing or a person, then you still won’t be as safe as you deserve to be. Remember, you may still pick up a cold or the flu from an airborne bug but we are aiming for AFAP – As Few As Possible!

LESSON FOUR (drum roll, please):

Unless you are at your very own clean sink (it is clean, right?) then DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT TOUCHING YOUR FACE FROM LATE OCTOBER UNTIL EARLY MARCH! No rubbing eyes, no itching ears, no gnawing nails, and the NOSE. Oy. The nose!

Your nose, in particular is off limits until spring. See? I said it was difficult. You will, as an added bonus, appear more confident, calm, and even more attractive when you give up the nervous fiddling-with-face syndrome. You can do it.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Protect Yourself From Colds & Flu: Lesson One
Protect Yourself From Colds & Flu: Lesson Two
Protect Yourself From Colds & Flu: Lesson Three

Resting Your Eyes: The Stepping Exercise

Only recently has man begun to stare at one small area, hour after hour. At work, it is the computer screen; at home it is video games and the television. The focus is narrow, the distance is fixed and the light is artificial and unrelated to Nature’s light cues.

For most of human history, we have been nomads or farmers. Our eyes evolved in such a way as to meet the demands and insure the survival of wanderers and gatherers and hunters. Early man constantly scanned his surroundings, near and far, high and low, left and right. Could he spot dinner and avoid becoming dinner? Could he spot a bit of grass on the horizon that could mean water? While our eyes cannot adapt and change in just a few centuries we can compensate and minimize the modern fatigue.

Stepping is a simple exercise that fixes on a focal point and holds that focus for one complete breath cycle (in-pause-out-pause). Remember that a “pause” is natural and never forced.

1. Focus on a specific point within arm’s length. Hold that focus for one breath cycle.
2. Focus on the upper corner of the room you are in for one breath cycle. Really focus.
3. Focus on a point as far away as possible. Hold that focus for one slow breath cycle.
4. Now step your focus in reverse – far to middle-distance to near. Repeat near to middle-distance to far. Repeat as long as you are comfortable.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Breathing: Your Guardian Angel

YOUR BREATHING IS THE SHARPEST ARROW IN YOUR QUIVER!

Is your body threatened? Use your breathing.
Is your mind overwhelmed and scrambled? Use your breathing.
Is your spirit in danger? Use your breathing.
When you are in ANY kind of trouble, turn to your breathing ALWAYS and IMMEDIATELY.

Remember that mindful breathing bridges your mind, body and spirit and gives you clear access to each. It also brings all three into a sharp clear single focus so, almost instantly, you are as good as you can be at any particular moment.

Back when we were cave people, we would freeze-frame, in hopes that the tiger-of-the-very-long-teeth would not notice us standing there by the light of the silvery moon. That was then and this is now.

How then should we breathe now when we are scared witless? DON’T GET FANCY. Just keep your breathing moving, slow and deep and steady. Let your tension dissipate with each exhalation. Your body will be ready. Your mind will be focused and your spirit will give you guidance.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

From Grape to Raisin

A moist mucus layer that creeps along your inner passageways defends you from outside danger. The mucus “blanket” needs to be moist enough to be pushed steadily toward the exits of your nose, mouth, and stomach. Ideally the mucus grabs and traps invading infections, toxins and irritants. You then swallow, spit, sneeze or cough out the polluted mucus.

The invention of air conditioning and central heating is both a blessing and a curse. Certainly humans are more productive in Atlanta in August and Fargo in February because man has learned to manipulate indoor temperature and humidity. Unfortunately, your respiratory system struggles with the resulting drying effects.

You cannot afford to have your mucus shield dry out because that would be like wearing a dirty bandage. Since most of us aren’t willing to go back to the old uncomfortable system of no air conditioning and no central heat, we must find ways to compensate.

At home and work - drink more water than you think you need (coffee and alcohol don’t count). Don’t let the AC in the car blow directly onto your face. Use as little heat and AC as you can tolerate. When you feel yourself turning into a potato chip, breathe deeply in a steamy shower, breathe for a few moments through a hot wet washcloth or consider investing in a humidifier. Go outside as often as possible.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Snot Is Your Friend

Breathing Brooms

Deep Breathing – Why?

Lung tissue is composed of trillions of fragile microscopic bubble-thin air sacs that are tightly packed inside your bony ribcage. Since lung tissue itself has no power to breathe but must be breathed into, it makes sense to work WITH rather than AGAINST Nature’s design.

Your ribcage is shaped like a bell or a birdcage, narrow and rigid at the top, wide and flexible around the bottom circumference. Unlike the bell or the birdcage, your ribcage has a stretchy powerful muscular floor (the diaphragm) that plays an incredibly important role in your respiration.

The upper cage is small and tight with the higher short ribs anchored directly to your breastbone. Don’t be fooled by the width of your shoulders! Gently poke around and you will find the actual cage just below your throat isn’t much wider than your hand is long. I regard the upper cage as a kind of additional reserve tank to be used primarily when you are moving fast and you need more oxygen than the main (lower) tank can provide.

Unfortunately, we tend to “shallow breathe” when we are tired, bored, stressed, or glued to the computer for long hours. When you use your “emergency” tank as if it were your main tank, you are forced to expend lots of energy for few rewards. Fewer air sacs in the upper chest mean less oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange. Rigid upper ribs mean less pumping action.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Protect Yourself From Colds & Flu: Lesson Three

Swiping your hands under the cold-water faucet for five seconds barely wakes up the germs waiting to give you a cold or a stomach disorder. You’ve watched “surgeons” on television scrub up. Suds everywhere, scrub up to the elbows, fingernail brush working cuticles.

Since you probably don’t plan to take out a gall bladder today you probably don’t have to be quite that vigilant. Let’s settle for a little hot water, a little soap, and TIME. You will bring your hands into the “safe” zone in about the same time it takes to sing Happy Birthday to yourself (silently, please, thank you).

My personal favorite silent scrubbing chant is “Go away colds. Go away flu. Go away colds. Go away flu.” I find that one truly inspiring. It’s 20 or 30 seconds invested at the sink rather than ten days of a cough and runny nose. Your call.

Remember we are NOT playing Howard Hughes here but simply using our common sense to stay as healthy as possible.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Protect Yourself From Colds & Flu: Lesson One

Protect Yourself From Colds & Flu: Lesson Two

The Angry Voice

There is an ancient saying, “Anger blows out the lamp of the mind.”

Anger that is out of control damages your reputation, accomplishes nothing, stresses your cardiovascular system and can even put your life at risk. Then there is honorable anger that focuses energy and helps to fuel a noble cause and often shines a light on a situation that needs to be exposed. Hopefully you avoid the road rage, the temper tantrums and the bar fights but know when to use honorable anger with discretion.

When you are dealing with your honorable anger (as opposed to pitching a fit), it is important to keep control of your sound. If you are angry over an issue or condition and you hope to quickly gain respect or at least understanding for your point of view, then the quality of your voice is important.

The next time you hear someone so outraged that they are completely out of control, notice how their voice becomes high and jagged, their breathing shallow and erratic, their speech and logic stupid and their veins popped. Could someone in this stupid-rage red-faced mode change your mind about anything?

Remember that YOUR VOICE IS COMPLETELY DEPENDENT UPON YOUR BREATHING and you have wonderful control of your breathing. Take a second to relax your jaw and tongue, breathe out stale air, relax your tummy and get air deep into your lungs and then let the justifiable anger rip.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Great Commercial!

Breathe Your Way Out Of Bed

The alarm clock pierces your dream!!! Your feet hit the cold floor and you are flying 0-to-60 in six seconds! Your brain, heart and spine are still in deep sleep mode. This shot-from-a-cannon wake-up leaves you vulnerable to back pain or even a heart attack. A jolt of caffeine slaps the body “awake.” If you take meds for heart or blood pressure, it has been many hours since your last pill.

This flying leap out of a sound sleep is acceptable only if Freddy Kruger is coming through your bedroom window.

Allow your heart, brain and spine to wake up naturally. Take three deep slow breaths, eyes still closed. Three deep slow breaths, eyes open. Curl into a fetal position with your knees at the edge of the bed. Push yourself slowly upright with your lower arm and swing your feet over the edge to the floor. Stand up slowly and stretch. It takes only a few extra seconds and you will feel better all morning.

Try this little trick: as you are drifting off to sleep, command the brain to awaken you five minutes before the alarm is set to go off. You need to be almost asleep for this to work. And here is a wonderful bonus: brilliant ideas will bob up from your unconscious for just a few seconds during that SLOW wake-up stage. These wonderful bits of data will dissipate almost instantly and are never even noticed when you fling yourself out of bed as if your jammies were on fire.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Meditation 101

There are so many rewarding and pleasurable meditation practices available. Most have been passed with great care and respect from master to student for hundreds or even thousands of years.

While some practices and exercises are quite involved and complicated, the simplest and most basic of them remain incredibly rewarding and effective. We all meditate at sometime during the day perhaps when we are so absorbed in a book that we fail to notice the fading light. Or when we are so intent on a project that we don’t notice that we haven’t eaten since yesterday. Meditation is a perfectly natural and normal process. If you don’t already have a meditation practice, you might enjoy meditating intentionally as well as accidentally.

I believe your intent and your respect for the process are more important than the specifics of any particular meditation exercise or ritual.

As a starting point – sit up straight (but relaxed) with your hands in your lap. Soften your jaw muscles and your tongue. Close your eyes. Listen to and feel the movement of your breath as it slips in and out of your body. Observe the breath without attempting to control or direct it in any way. Continue for as long as you can concentrate completely on your breathing. Some days you may be able to focus for only one breath. On other days, fifty. The quality of your effort (or effortlessness) is more important than the length of time.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Breathing and Creativity

Every child is born an artist. You are an artist. When children are too young and inexperienced to question, they get the message that creativity is some mysterious gift, granted only to a chosen few and certainly not to them! Certainly not to you.

So you probably were ashamed and put away your crayons and never tried again. I will throw up if you say one word about “drawing a straight line.”

Creativity is simply the expression, the language of your unconscious mind, your best and timeless self. Your creative efforts provide insight into your spirit and give you the chance to share that insight. Critical praise and profit are completely separate issues! Praise and profit (or lack of it) should never be permitted to obstruct your imagination and creativity.

When you are next tempted or inspired to sing or dance or paint or write or draw or blow glass or weave blankets or decorate cakes, BREATHE YOUR WAY THROUGH IT. CONSTANTLY AND EVENLY AND DEEPLY AND STEADILY AND QUIETLY – ALL THE WAY THROUGH IT. You have nothing to lose and lots to gain.

Your PROJECT is not nearly as important as your PROCESS. That’s the fun. That’s the joy. Someone old and wise said, “The light is within you. Let the light shine.”

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Protect Yourself From Colds & Flu: Lesson Two

Keep at hand a little squirt bottle of killer goo during cold-and-flu season. Bad bugs adapt to human defenses at the speed of light but hand-sanitizers are at the moment ahead of the game. Never pass up a chance for soap and hot water but gel can protect you between visits to the sink.

The medical pundits don’t all agree on the effectiveness of sanitizers but let’s go with the weapons we have at hand (sorry about that) until something more effective comes along.

Killer goo is especially valuable when you move through shared spaces. EVERY TIME you exit a library, a store, a theater, a gym, a school, an office, the subway, an auditorium, a hospital (duh!) – squirt your fingers with a few drops of clear sanitizer.

Even when you have used the restroom and washed your hands, you have touched many things since you washed, including the exit door – just you and 10,000 other people. You think all 10,000 washed their hands?!

The “exit squirt” is a cheap and easy habit and takes only a couple of seconds while a cold devours a week to ten days.

Be well and breathe beautifully.

Protect Yourself From Colds & Flu: Lesson One

Breathing and Your Aging Spine

Our spines shorten and curl forward as we age, almost as if we were returning to our original fetal position. The loss of bone calcium (in men as well as women) coupled with years of careless posture and injury threaten the core architecture of the human body. And since we are now living so much longer, it is a challenge to stay out of permanent pretzel-posture until we make it to the finish line. It is difficult to breathe effectively when your back hurts.

Since the main support pillar of your torso is the stack of vertebrae at the rear of your ribcage, the breakdown of bone quality in those bones will certainly rob you of your youthful and functional carriage as well as your easy, free, rewarding breathing. Your lungs are only as good as the cage they are carried in.

Long years of straining forward at the computer, carrying a heavy purse on the same shoulder, bending over equipment, sitting like a wilted daisy, are finally written forever on one’s body and can no longer be erased in spite of all good efforts. As always, prevention is the best strategy.

Refuse to shrink with age. Stretch. Bend. Research your hormones and your nutrition. Discuss bone health with your doctor. Your body remains deaf to all your best intentions regardless of how frequently, loudly and eloquently you declare those intentions.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Inescapable Stress

You can avoid, prevent or escape most of the frustrating and stressful situations in your personal and professional life. There are, however, some situations you simply cannot walk away from. Since chronic ongoing stress poisons the body and scrambles the thinking, you need to find reasonable ways to get through tough times.

1. Take the time to examine a stressful situation that you can’t escape. Are you truly stuck or have you simply not had the time to explore your options? There are always organizations and support groups out there that offer guidance. You are not alone. Everyone is overwhelmed at some time in their lives.....even the smartest, the richest and the wisest. Google is a blessing when you need to find guidance and moral support.
2. This is not the time for you to skip your own mental and physical health, regardless of how much you are on overload. Your mind and body are at risk and you are especially vulnerable now. Keep mammograms, chest X-rays and flu shots high on the agenda. Quiet time is essential even if it is only a few minutes.
3. There is an ancient phrase that comes up in yoga studies: “This too shall pass.” Never lose sight of yourself on the other side of this situation.
4. Remember that mindful breathing ties together the best of your mind, body and spirit. It is always handy! Turn to your deep, slow, quiet breathing while you are in the midst of the struggle. Amazingly the response takes only a couple minutes. Sometimes your newfound calm alone will alter the situation around you.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Protect Yourself From Colds & Flu: Lesson One

In spite of the fact that you are incredibly careful you may still catch a cold or flu. However, let’s stack the odds in your favor and aim for AFAP (As Few As Possible).

Invading bacteria and viruses love it when you TOUCH stuff. Protect yourself by learning a smarter way to touch disease-transfer points. Perhaps thousands (or at least hundreds) of fingers have touched those shared “hot spots” since they were last cleaned and even then “cleaned” probably means annoying the bugs rather than terminating them.

1. Push an ELEVATOR BUTTON with a knuckle instead of a fingertip.
2. Slide the outside edge of your hand along a STAIR RAILING rather than grasping the rail with your whole hand.
3. Use your palm rather than your fingers to engage a DOOR HANDLE or TOWEL DISPENSER.
4. MARKET BASKETS are like giant Petri dishes on wheels!! Hold the outer part, not the center, of the handle.
5. FLUSH with the outer wrist bone or a knuckle.
6. If you SHARE EQUIPMENT at work, in the gym, or at school carry along a bleach-wipe and (without fanfare) wipe down the common transfer spots at the beginning of your shift.

No need to play Howard Hughes here, a white-gloved prisoner in your own home! You develop some immunity through exposure. But for now let’s try for AFAP.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Get OUT!

The air outside your home is too often loaded with microscopic bits of soot, flying fertilizer, smoke, tires, asphalt, car/bus/airplane exhaust, toxic gases, grit and grime.

However, the air inside your home, office and car can present an even greater threat to your lungs. Have you noticed the thin greasy film that accumulates on the inside of your car windows? The automotive plastics and rubber are deteriorating and radiating gases that can easily find their way into your body. You are exposed daily to construction materials that threaten your quality of life: plastics of all kinds, particle board, veneers, paints, carpets, popcorn ceilings, carpet glues, linoleum adhesives, wallpaper glues, household cleaners, dry cleaning fumes, mothballs, cigarette smoke. You are built to tolerate a few of these irritants at one time for a short period of time.

Sensitivities arise when you have long and repeated exposure to any dangerous substance. Finally your overburdened respiratory system can no longer keep up the good fight and you find yourself with asthma or worse. These sensitivities tend to be permanent.

Lend your most powerful political voice to laws that clean up the environment and the building industry standards. Read the air quality reports every day in the paper so you can avoid unnecessary trips outside on bad-air days but reverse that when the air outside is relatively clear.

Try to avoid staying in any single setting for more than a couple hours at a time. Take a short break in a different venue as often as possible. Leave your office for a quick walk around the block to clear your head and to break your shallow breathing pattern.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Sea in a shell

I appreciate this exercise because it is a simple and elegant way to center yourself quickly when everything around you is turning to mush. It is understandable that you feel fragmented and distracted during a demanding workday. It is easy to lose track of your center, of your true self. Your best decisions, your best plans, your best healing, springs from your CENTER so try not to stray “too far from home” for too long.

Keep your spine comfortably erect and your shoulders relaxed during the entire exercise. Closing your eyes is preferable if circumstances allow.

1. With the tips of your middle fingers close your ears gently by pressing in on the small flap just forward of your ear canals (not to be confused with your ear lobes).


2. Rest your bent elbows comfortably against your chest and keep your face forward.


3. Close your eyes and LISTEN to your deep, slow, steady breathing. The sound of this smooth and rhythmic flow of air is a wonderful relaxing focus. It will seem as if you are listening to the sound of the sea in a seashell. Continue for as long as you feel comfortable. You will find that your breathing slows and deepens fairly quickly without any conscious effort on your part.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Snot Is Your Friend

OK. OK. I know that was a cheap shot but this is a really important subject and I really need to get your attention. Sorry about that.

Mucus often gets a bad rap. The only time we pay attention to mucus is when we have hay fever or a nasty leaky cold and at that point it seems like the attack of the glob. You just want it to go away.

If, in fact, your wish were to be granted by the cold-medicine fairy and snot did go away completely, I doubt that you would be around for your next birthday. You are pretty much lined with this glistening magical traveling stuff that keeps your delicate vulnerable inner tissues moist, clean, and warm.

The trick is to keep the mucus moist enough so it moves along easily but gelatinous enough to trap the bits of junk and microscopic critters that would otherwise dig dangerously deep into your vulnerable lungs and possibly kill you. Be judicious about cold and sinus medications that could dry out your bronchial passages. Stay hydrated. Wear a dust mask when you are exposed to airborne irritants that can overrun the mucus blanket. Treasure this super barrier.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Breathing? Good. Overbreathing? Not So Much.

There is a pulmonary computer at the base of your brain that works 24/7, never complains, rarely interrupts your busy day and is completely devoted to your survival. If you tried to consciously manage your breathing, you would be dead where you stand.

A steady flow of information speeds back and forth along your nerves from your muscles, lungs and heart, to and from your respiratory center. The speed, depth and frequency of your breathing are all adjusted instantly and precisely to provide exactly the amount of oxygen you need at any given moment. Sleeping? Running? Meditating? Dancing? Scared? Singing? Climbing? 10,000 feet? 200 feet under water? 115 degrees? –25 degrees? No problem. Count on split-second adjustments.

Your pulmonary computer allows for occasional manual control such as holding your breath, or speeding up/slowing down your breathing. Eventually you will return to what the computer deems to be “normal” breathing.

A manual override becomes dangerous, however, when a swimmer forces too many deep and fast breaths just before going into the water in the hopes of extending underwater time.

Overbreathing can increase underwater time but overbreathing also stores almost no extra oxygen and blows off way too much carbon dioxide. Once underwater, the victim runs out of oxygen but is missing the warning bursting sensation from the lack of carbon dioxide that screams “time to go up.” NEVER EVER TAKE MORE THAN TWO OR THREE EXTRA BREATHS BEFORE DIVING IN.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Sandwich Muscles II

If you hope to maintain a strong and healthy flow of fresh air in and out of your lungs at any age, you need to keep your pumper-and-squeezer muscles strong and flexible. As you age, the double layers of muscles (intercostals) sandwiched between your ribs become less active and more brittle. Poor posture pinches and inhibits the intercostals from doing their job efficiently. These are the muscles that raise and lower your ribs, changing the volume of your ribcage with each breath you take. Weak, cramped, lazy intercostal muscles cannot deliver the amount of oxygen you need for an active life.

1. Stand with your feet slightly more than shoulder-distance apart (toes straight ahead) with your back against a wall. Your bottom and BOTH shoulder blades will touch the wall at all times.
2. Stretch your right arm over your head and touch your left ear with your right hand (or as close as you can come). Lay your free hand on your navel and face forward the entire time.
3. Lengthen your spine first and then stretch slowly to the left, sliding along the wall only as far as is comfortable. Breathe quietly in and out, feeling the muscles working between the ribs along your right side. Hold for three or four breath cycles.
4. Pull your navel in and straighten up slowly. Change hands and repeat on the other side. If you have trouble returning to an upright position, you stretched too far.

This is an awareness exercise and a reminder of the importance of keeping pumpers-and-squeezers in good condition.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

LINK: Sandwich Muscles I

Sandwich Muscles I

Deep delicate lung tissue cannot actually move air all by itself and is completely dependent upon the ribcage muscles to deliver and take away air that the lung tissue processes. Therefore, it makes sense to keep all the respiratory “pumping” muscles strong, flexible and active.

A few generations ago, we didn’t live long. A body lasted a few decades (long enough to procreate) and then was gone. As the song goes, we didn’t run outta tread before we ran outta road. Today we need to keep all systems in relatively good working order at least until age 95. The operative word here is “WE.” Nature looks out for us until approximately age 35 and then it is our turn to take responsibility.

There isn’t too much we can do for the big master pumper (the diaphragm) that stretches across the floor of the ribcage. Keeping your spine aligned, sitting properly, keeping a reasonable weight and avoiding too-tight belts is about all you can do for that deeply buried and complicated structure.

However, the thin double layer of muscle (intercostals) sandwiched between your ribs is muscle you are easily able to control. Intercostals are the muscles that raise and lower your ribs to change the chest capacity. Fresh air is drawn in by vacuum that is created by an expanded chest. Stale air is squeezed out when the muscles relax and the ribs drop making the chest capacity smaller.

Any exercise that you do that stretches the torso forward, backward and especially sideways will help to keep your intercostals young.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

LINK: Sandwich Muscles II

Bored? Not.

Boredom is an insult to both your intelligence and your body. Each moment passes once and will never ever come again. All the King’s horses and all the King’s men are powerless to call back a particular moment. Time (in spite of the song) is not stored in a bottle. It is spent. It is not stored.

Besides, boredom almost always turns to stress and stress almost always churns up a chemical storm in your blood stream and messes with your nervous system. Your breath becomes short, shallow and erratic. I wrote this while waiting and waiting and waiting for my husband to test a new bike at a sporting goods store (he fell off so it took a little longer than expected but he liked the bike).

PLAN AHEAD. Always carry a small notepad and pen. Pick two favorite breathing or relaxation exercises that you turn to automatically. Potential boredom often happens in a public place so I recommend breathing exercises that are effective but not especially demonstrative.

Watch someone who is obviously bored and impatient. They look like a tall four-year old.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Increase Energy and Productivity

Your supervisor should admonish you for spending long UNINTERRUPTED hours with your
nose to the grindstone. That outdated work model is based on factory production and actually DECREASES your effectiveness in today’s information and service market.

Your employer would be better served if you followed a work pattern BASED ON THE WAY YOUR BODY AND BRAIN FUNCTION. Uneducated mill workers in the 1800s (mostly young women and children) were pushed until they dropped and were considered disposable cogs in the factory machine.

Today you are an educated, trained, motivated employee with the luxury of self-awareness. You are NOT disposable!

• Neurologists seem to agree that every brain needs to be “reset” every 20 – 40 minutes to maintain peak performance. “Reset” can occur with a quick change of venue, like walking to the window or down the hall. Set an alarm to remind yourself.
• To stay fresh, mentally and physically, you need to maintain a reasonable flow of oxygen and you must keep the bloodstream clear of the body’s spent fuel. Sitting too long results in shallow inefficient breathing. You grow tired and fuzzy-brained way too soon. Take frequent deep breaths.
• Hunched posture distorts your spine (especially your neck) and compresses your lungs. Stand up often, stretch and reposition your body correctly. Never rest your seated body on your tailbone. Keep your ears over your shoulders and your shoulders in line with your hipbones.
• Your eyes are NOT designed for a single focus at a set distance. Look away from the monitor frequently to a point in the far distance, then middle distance.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Your Nose: Guard at the Front Gate

Your mouth is a simple system designed to grind your breakfast into teensy bits that slide on down into the acid pit of your stomach. The combination of your nostrils and inner nose is an elaborate design that, in a fraction of a second, filters the grit out of the incoming air, adjusts the breath to body temperature, moistens and prepares the air for entry into your vulnerable lungs.

1. Tiny hairs just inside your nostrils act as a screen door that grabs flying gnats and the largest airborne grit.
2. Bumpy flaps and folds (turbinates) along the side walls of your inner nose force the incoming air to swirl around until the air is suitably warm and moist.
3. A traveling mucous blanket glides along over the nasal passages, protecting the underlying tissues and grabbing finer irritants (missed by the screen door).
4. A sharp right angle bend at the back of the throat (the back door of your inner nose) causes yet-finer irritants to be dropped so they can be easily swallowed or spit out. Cool.

When you breathe through your mouth, the air bypasses all this protection. The air descends directly into your delicate lungs, too dirty, too dry, too cold or too hot. The lungs themselves are built for oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange. They are not designed to defend themselves. That is a job for your nose. If you have difficulty breathing through your nose, seek help from an ear-nose-throat specialist.


Be well and breathe beautifully.

Outwitting the Lint Monster!

Some ultra-fine irritants that sneak into your lungs can never be expelled or absorbed. You are stuck with this garbage, forever. Your lungs and heart are eventually forced to work harder than necessary because of the mounting respiratory burden. After repeated exposure, the body may become sensitized and eventually only a few particles of an irritant will set off an asthma attack or an allergic reaction.

Cleaning the lint trap in the clothes dryer and changing the vacuum cleaner bag create clouds of dust, lint, carpet fibers, cat hair, mite dander and house debris.

Keep an inexpensive paper dust mask hanging near your clothes dryer AND on your sweeper handle. Remember, these little masks are great protection from airborne particles but do not protect you from toxic gases. If you have trouble remembering to wear the mask, stick up a Post-it on your dryer door. Paper masks are cheap so why not throw one in the car and one in the garage as well?

An alternative plan is to hold the lint trap or vacuum bag at arm’s length. Keep the problem as far from your nose as possible. Take a deep breath before you begin the process and while you are dumping the dirt, let your air out in a long slow “hissssssssss.” If you need more air in the process, turn your head to the side to breathe in and then repeat the hissing exhalation.

Be well and breathe beautifully.

Shoulder Lift

We carry way too much stress in the small complicated muscles of the neck, jaw and shoulders. You might not notice this at first because tension creeps up on you so gradually that it begins to feel “normal.”

The Shoulder Lift is an easy relaxing exercise that can release much of that tension BEFORE you get smacked with a whopping tension headache.

As always, tend to your posture so your breathing doesn’t have to push against a “posture dam.”

1. As you inhale, float your LEFT shoulder smoothly upward as if it were riding on a well- oiled track toward the ceiling. Then let that left shoulder slide DOWN as you breathe out.
2. Inhale as you float your RIGHT shoulder upward. Exhale, sliding it down again.
3. A shoulder rises when you breathe in and comes down when you exhale.
4. Alternate sides. Keep all movement smooth and fluid. Your neck remains long and relaxed.

Establish a smooth easy breathing pattern BEFORE you begin to move. The breath always rules and the movement follows the rhythm of the breathing, not the other way around.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Sleep Apnea

APNEA n. – “a temporary suspension or absence of breathing.” Hopefully someone nearby will notice if you stop breathing during the day and if you’re lucky they will be CPR certified. I trust you are.

It’s a tougher problem at night when your breathing stops during sleep or slows to a dangerous level. Although this is not a rare condition, most people have no idea they have it.

If you rattle the neighbor’s dishes with your snoring, if you wake up suddenly gasping for air as if you’ve been too long under water, if your sleep mate notices that you have an erratic breathing pattern or if you wake up each morning as tired as when you went to bed - then it’s time to have a long discussion with your doctor or pulmonary specialist.

This is serious business and can be fatal. These days, doctors have gotten pretty good at testing for and correcting the condition. However, it is your job to bring your concerns to their attention.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Upside Down Breathing

Take a look at the front view of a ribcage (minus collarbones and arms). Ribs #1 descending through #7 are all short and attached DIRECTLY to your breastbone. The upper cage is relatively NARROW and RIGID. Ribs #8 down through #10 each begin to lengthen and attach to the rib above instead of directly to the breastbone, noticeably increasing the flexibility of the lower cage. We will ignore ribs #11 and #12 because they are short and free-floating at their forward ends. They never make it as far as the front view.

The double layers of intercostal muscles are sandwiched in between your ribs and their job is to raise and lower your ribs as you breathe, much like opening and closing an umbrella.

Lung tissue cannot breathe by itself but MUST BE BREATHED INTO by the combined efforts of your intercostals and the powerful diaphragm that is stretched across the floor of your ribcage. Poke around on your ribcage (gently please) and note the flexibility of your lower ribs.

When we shallow-breathe, we invest a LOT OF ENERGY FOR VERY LITTLE OXYGEN IN RETURN. When we deep-breath into the wider and more flexible lower cage, we spend less energy for greater gain. The upper chest serves well as a reserve tank (when you need more oxygen than the lower cage alone can provide). Shallow breathing is lazy breathing or tired breathing or stressed breathing or simply a very bad habit.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Breathing Basics 101

Position
The first few times you practice a breathing exercise (unless otherwise instructed), sit squarely on the front edge of a straight chair seat. Rest your feet flat on the floor about hip-distance apart. This position discourages the temptation to doze off or the possibility of losing your balance if you were to stand. Once you are comfortable and confident with the exercise, practice it in any position that keeps your chest open and your spine straight. Again, unless otherwise suggested, breathe through your nose.

Pauses and Cycles
A “breath” or a “breath cycle” means one inhalation plus a natural pause, plus one exhalation and a natural pause. In–Pause–Out–Pause equals a single breath cycle. The pause is not a hold. It is a natural turning point allowing the breath to change direction comfortably.

Names of Exercises
I have chosen particular names because they are descriptive and easy to remember. You may have previously learned a different name for a similar exercise while exploring a different discipline. Remember that breathing exercises and meditation rituals are not like secret handshakes or passwords that somehow give us elevated status. Eventually, you are free to rename all the exercises as it suits you.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Posture Quick-Fix

Deep lung tissue is devoted almost exclusively to delivery of oxygen directly into the bloodstream and to the simultaneous pick-up and carting away of carbon dioxide. This 24/7 job is so complicated and important that Nature pretty much leaves all the other air pumping, filtering, warming, moisturizing chores to other parts of your anatomy. Your lungs lose full and proper expansion when your spine and ribcage collapse like a beanbag. Lazy posture means poor lung function. Poor lung function leaves you tired and vulnerable to illness.

The slouch, the slump, the sprawl inhibit the amount of air that can move easily in and out of your chest. Less air – less fuel. Less fuel – more fatigue. More fatigue – more slouch.

Experiment: Sit in a typical slouch with your weight rolled back onto your tailbone and your shoulders forward of your ears. Count the seconds it takes for an inhalation. In contrast, roll your weight forward onto your thighbones and off your tailbone. Reach GENTLY upward with the CENTER TOP of your head. That center point is on an imaginary line that would run from one ear, over the top of your head to the other ear. Place your elbows in line with your side-seams.

This time, count the seconds it takes for an inhalation.

This “taller” position is something you can do frequently to help maintain your energy level. Watch yourself in the mirror and notice how much younger and more confident you look in the corrected position.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Breathe Through The “Power Moves”

As you lift, shove, hoist, or haul anything that is huge, heavy or awkward, DO NOT HOLD YOUR BREATH! On occasion we all take complete leave of our senses and decide that, just this once, we absolutely MUST move a file cabinet the size of a small hippo.

You can potentially blow off the top of your skull when you hold that big gulp of air while lifting an armoire only slightly smaller than a Ford Taurus! KEEP YOUR BREATH FLOWING. Your blood pressure and your vascular system get cranky when you combine extreme effort with holding your breath.

Visualize the task in detail before you actually lay hands-on so all your energy will be focused where it needs to be. Still, DO NOT HOLD YOUR BREATH! Resist the temptation by singing or counting out loud till the deed is done. You can’t sing or count while holding your breath.

Better yet. Ask three hunky friends to help but be sure to tell them not to hold their breath.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Gums and Lungs

Salt and pepper. Bacon and eggs. Bread and butter. Shoes and socks. Gums and lungs. Gums and lungs! Really?

The stuff that wrecks your mouth does more than cosmetic damage. It sneaks into your blood stream through damaged gums and weak teeth and from there it gets a free ride into every nook and cranny of your wonderfulness. All along the way it deposits crusty dams that narrow the flow of blood. Constricted arteries increase your risk of stroke and heart attack.

Lung tissue is made up of miniscule air sacs that grow in clusters like microscopic hollow grapes, tightly wrapped by blood vessels so small that your blood must squeeze through one molecule at a time. This partnership of air and blood is the very essence of your survival and must be protected from any possible obstruction along the blood-path.

During economic hard times it is sensible to cut expenditures for non-essential products and services. Regular visits to the dentist and disciplined daily home care should not be considered luxuries.

Be well. Breathe and smile beautifully.

Breathing Brooms - The Cilia

You are certainly familiar with the clear, warm, sticky blanket of mucous that lines most of your respiratory passages. The multipurpose mucous layer protects the underlying tissues of your nasal cavities, sinuses, throat and descending bronchial passages that wend their way between your nose and your delicate deep lung tissue.

Mucous is a super “fly paper” that releases moisture into the incoming dry air while at the same time grabbing up a billion bits of airborne bouncing garbage before it finds its way into your delicate lungs. Mucous is great stuff but once it has picked up a full load of garbage, you don’t want it hanging around.

Sprouting outward from the walls of most of your respiratory tunnels are millions of microscopic hair-like projections called “cilia” that beat and sweep like tiny brooms. A healthy cilia-covered wall resembles a microscopic wheat field in a stiff breeze. These extraordinary pushy little brooms beat as many as 50,000 times per hour to push along your mucous layer.

Under ideal conditions old polluted mucous is regularly dumped out through your nose, mouth or digestive tract. At the same time new fresh clean mucous is produced by tiny goblet cells embedded in your bronchial walls. For this defense system to work effectively the mucous layer must be moist enough to be pushed along easily and the sweeping cilia must remain strong and active. Infection, smoking, lack of fluids and allergies can stun or cripple the cilia and can halt the movement of the mucous in its tracks.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Breath Watch

I’ve never been drawn to complicated meditation rituals. If, however, a trusted teacher has assigned you a meditation exercise, a personal mantra or chant and it feels right for you, then I encourage you to stay with your current practice.

I personally believe meditation is a natural aspect of our survival and that we do it several times a day without labeling the process as “meditation.” If someone were to ask you if you meditate, you might say that you haven’t and you aren’t interested. Don’t be so sure.

Mother Nature shuts down our noisy fussy conscious mind and opens up the deeper mind, the mind that knows more, stores more, and is perhaps connected to a larger “database” than is our small conscious mind.

Meditation doesn’t lull your mind to sleep so don’t write it off as being lazy. Brain scans show quite the opposite. Meditation is simply a different (and awesome) kind of busy.

Don’t be fooled by the deceptive simplicity of the Breath Watch exercise because it is an ancient, respected and powerful meditation that you can summon at will.

1. Close your eyes and simply observe your breathing. Feel it. Listen to it.
2. When you begin to lose concentration, rest for a few moments and begin again.

There is no right or wrong way to breathe for this exercise. You will quickly learn to become a respectful observer, rather than a director or critic. Simply observe without dictating the results.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Three Hearts

If the primary job of your heart is to move blood into and out of every nook and cranny of your body, then let’s consider that there are two additional “hearts” that share in that duty. Your blood delivers oxygen (food) and carts away spent fuel (garbage). We can’t survive more than a few moments without the former and can’t tolerate much build-up of the latter. For efficient movement we need a foolproof 24/7 pumping system.

The primary heart is, of course, the one behind and slightly left of your breastbone. Number two is the diaphragm – that powerful muscular floor of your ribcage that domes up when you exhale and flattens down when you take air in. The diaphragm behaves with a syringe-type movement that not only moves air in and out but also presses down on major organs and guts when you inhale, helping to push the blood along. Number three is the collection of big powerful thigh muscles that squeeze and release.

All three hearts must be strong and busy. You may be a jock but when you sit at the desk for too many hours or are stuck in a plane for a long flight, your two secondary hearts shut down almost completely! Your primary heart is left with all the work. GET UP OFTEN. Give your primary heart an assist by taking a few really deep slow breaths and by pumping those leg muscles often.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Darth Vader and the Cash Cow

Smoking is an amazingly brilliant commercial venture that lures the consumer into giving vast sums of money to tobacco executives who collect paychecks larger than yours and mine combined. Your addiction to their paper-wrapped weeds will continue to keep these Darth Vaders in summer homes, silk suits, round-the-world travel and fat portfolios. How does it feel to be a cash cow?

Not one of these executives will be there to comfort your family when smoking erases your life. Not one of them will offer to do your grocery shopping when you are dragging around an oxygen tank.

Tobacco company executives are, at this very moment, searching for a foolish consumer to replace you when you go. That replacement consumer may well be your child or grandchild.

It will take every ounce of strength and determination you have to beat these guys but you must. You cannot let them win. In spite of their philosophy, you are neither replaceable nor disposable. You are unique and you are important.

Make no mistake, you are in deadly combat with Darth Vader but you must and you will win this battle. May the Force be with you.

Be well. Breathe beautifully (and for a very long time.)

Drumming

The purpose of Drumming is to create a gentle vibration deep within the chest without causing any surface discomfort. Your relaxed drumming hand will travel from your shoulder toward your breastbone. Your drumming path is just below your collarbone. Drumming often produces a few small natural cleansing coughs.

1. Make a loose, relaxed, soft fist with your right hand. Your arms and shoulders remain relaxed, your spine erect and your right bent elbow against your ribs.
2. The palm-side of your right fist will tap just below your left collarbone, moving from left shoulder to mid-line.
3. Stop every inch and tap gently at least six times. Repeat this path several times from left shoulder to breastbone. Tap hard enough to hear the sound in your chest.
4. Then, begin under your right collarbone with your left hand in the same manner. It is important to keep your curled fingers and your wrists relaxed. Repeat until you feel the circulation has increased in your upper chest.

Breathe through your nose as you drum and cover your mouth when you cough.

Breathe well. Breathe beautifully.

Breath-counting and Pain

It is natural to tense up when something hurts or even when you THINK something is going to hurt Eeeerp! He snapped on that disposable glove! That thing looks reeeeally sharp! When you’re hit with a shock of pain, your primitive fight-or-flight syndrome kicks in, but too often you are unable to EITHER fight OR flee so you lock down!

When you are in pain, notice how quickly you begin to shallow-breathe or worse yet, hold your breath until your ears ring. Unfortunately, tension obstructs blood flow and oxygen delivery and that, in turn, intensifies the pain.

Counting each exhalation is a simple and effective exercise that will help keep your mind and body relaxed. Our goal here is to keep the pain to an absolute minimum. The exhalation is the natural release and “letting go” phase of every breath cycle so it makes sense to work with your exhalation to ease your tension. A fair portion of your “hurt” is due to physical tension and psychological apprehension. The hurt is bad enough without embellishing it?!

COUNT TEN SLOW STEADY EXHALATIONS and then begin again with ten more. Continue counting in sets of ten until your body is as relaxed as possible.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Nose Breathes. Mouth Eats.

The nasal cavities earn an “A+” for their efforts to filter, moisten, warm and otherwise prep the incoming air as it travels toward your lungs. All this processing occurs in a split-second (hour after hour, day after day, year after year). Your nose is an extraordinary design with at least half a dozen clever built-in systems to protect you from illness and even death.

Your mouth, on the other hand, provides pretty much an unprotected straight shot in and down. The mouth is built for eating and kissing, NOT BREATHING. When you inhale through your mouth, the air is not slowed down for processing the way it is in your nose. Your mouth warms and moistens the air a bit but gets an “F” for filtering out airborne garbage.

There is also a tendency to breathe high in the chest when you mouth-breathe because the air rushes in and isn’t slowed by passing through the wonderful furry, sticky, bumpy, twisted maze of your nasal cavities.

If you have a deviated septum, if your allergies obstruct your nasal passages, if you have a chronic sinus irritation, then it is time to see a specialist to diagnose, correct or at least improve the situation. Every breath you take through your mouth contributes to polluted lungs and a dried out respiratory system.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Bumps, Bites and CA-MRSA

Sorry. We need to talk about yukky stuff again. Stick with me on this one.

Beware of a “spider bite” when you haven’t seen a spider. Pay attention to an angry “boil” when it seems to be getting worse and when you begin to feel super funky. Get to an emergency room and INSIST that your skin eruption be tested for CA-MRSA.

For decades MRSA (minus the CA) has plagued vulnerable hospital patients. The infection finds its way into the blood stream and from there into the lungs. As always, bugs breed and adapt much faster than man’s arsenal of antibiotics so researchers will always be racing to catch up.

The addition of the “CA” (community associated) means that MRSA has jumped the hospital wall and is now able to travel freely among healthy people of all ages. Once it gets into your lungs, you are in for the battle of your life.

CA-MRSA is spread by skin-to-skin contact and by sharing personal items like clothing and towels. It thrives in crowded environments like gyms, playgrounds, military bases and schools.

Watch for any painful bump that feels hot, looks angry and oozes. This is not the time to self-medicate!

Protect yourself by washing your hands frequently. Avoid sharing personal items. Become politically aware of the potential problem of using antibiotics routinely on livestock and by misuse of antibiotics by doctors and patients.

If you want to do further research, the full name for CA-MRSA is Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. A nasty bugger.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Cleansing Breath

Cleansing Breath can be useful when you’ve been breathing dry or dirty air, when you have been sleeping with your mouth open, when you have just a touch of asthma. It does not cover major chest infections or more serious problems.

The mucous blanket that lines your breathing tunnels and tubes MUST REMAIN FLUID enough to be pushed along easily by your cilia but sticky enough to grab airborne garbage. Occasionally mucous gets too thick and polluted and begins to clog things up. Often a few Cleansing Breaths will kick out a little mucous plug before you get into more serious blockage.

1. Keep your mouth CLOSED during the entire exercise. You will be inhaling SLOWLY and QUIETLY through your nose to avoid pushing the offending mucous deeper down into your chest.
2. Empty first, as always. Then fill quietly through your nose. Exhale as much air as seems natural and comfortable.
3. WHEN YOU ARE ALMOST EMPTY, add two or three small coughs (mouth still closed).
4. Continue to breathe in gently and add a couple tiny coughs at the tail end of each exhalation.

These small orchestrated coughs usually trigger a deep efficient cough that grabs and expels the offending mucous.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

The Worst of Times. The Best of Times

We are sinking into a bad-news swamp - Bernie Madoff, Robert Stanford, Citicorp, AIG, Lehman Brothers, Freddie and Fannie. Vital rain forests vanish, icebergs melt, toxic waste oozes, oceans turn into dead zones, and our kids look like the Pillsbury Dough Boy . . .

On the bright side we are gaining new and extraordinary personal power.

We are learning that our brains can be improved until the day we die. Previously it was assumed that the human brain slides steadily downhill into the age pit, can’t be retrained and is about as malleable as a doorstop.

We are learning how to PREVENT disease instead of waiting for those terrible telltale symptoms. We finally understand how to improve our odds against type II diabetes, lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis.

Thanks to the Internet you can become a smart partner with your personal medical team. YOUR REACH IS GLOBAL AND AFFORDABLE.

Today we can PREVENT countless cases of lung cancer. We have the capability to spot the disease early. We have access to extraordinary medical treatment and surgical talent. At last we have the power to hold corporations accountable for the harm they do. Our parents and grandparents never dreamed of such possibilities.

The Market will rise and fall. It always does. Institutions will rise and crumble. They always do. But today you have greater power than ever over your physical, intellectual and spiritual evolution. That power will only get better.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Budget Your Body

How would you spend your money if you knew, once it was gone, there would never be one more penny coming in, ever? Would you budget more carefully?

How carefully would you pick a hairdresser if you knew that after your next haircut your hair would never grow another inch?

How well would you care for your shoes if you knew you could never buy another pair?

That’s rather the way things are with your lungs. Remove lung tissue and it cannot grow back. Not ever. Dump garbage into your lungs and some of the garbage just sits there. Expose your lungs to toxins and the delicate tissues will eventually break down and scar. Keep on smoking and very soon your beautiful pink lungs will turn into a blackened, torn useless mess.

You can survive with not very much money if you budget carefully. You can go bald as a squash without serious harm. Countless people in this world have only one pair of shoes, or none. Unfortunately for us, having diminished lung capacity means not enough fuel and too much garbage in the bloodstream. Damaged lungs leave you with less energy, less healing capacity, less strength and a lot less fun. Life will leave you in its wake.

Your best insurance is PREVENTION. You will quickly discover that you cannot do a “my bad” to Mother Nature and expect to have your lungs restored. Gone forever.

Suggested Review & Link: Hill and Valley Breathing.

Be well. Be wise. Breathe beautifully.