Folded Leaf Breath

Breathing tends to become ragged, uneven and erratic when you are stressed, tired, frightened, angry or in pain. Since your breathing bridges mind, body and spirit, it is a wonderful tool for getting yourself calm and centered quickly.

This is one of those rare occasions when you are guided to breathe in through your mouth. The narrow, rough, moist surface of your folded tongue will do an adequate (albeit temporary) job of preparing the incoming air for your lungs. The narrow channel for the incoming breath will automatically slow and smooth out your breathing.

1. Stick out your relaxed tongue about one inch beyond your lips. Shape your lips into a small “O.” This should help you to curl up the outer edges of your tongue to form a tongue-trough that will channel each incoming breath.

2. Draw in a slow, steady, deep breath through your folded tongue-channel.

3. Exhale by pulling in your tongue, closing your mouth and breathing out through your nose.

The cycle is: in through the folded tongue-channel and out through the nose. Stop if your mouth begins to feel dry.

Yes, it is true that some people cannot shape their tongues this way. If you are one, then do Folded Leaf by breathing in through a fat drinking straw and out through you nose.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Look Back! They’re Gaining On You!

We are losing a war with bacteria and viruses that could possibly take out our entire species. They breed by the kazillions in no time at all. They adapt in the blink of an eye to overcome our very best defenses. If you were able to observe a viral attack on a single human cell, it would give you bad dreams.

When these invaders come in contact with any antibiotic anywhere, they immediately begin to adapt and render medication useless for human protection. We dump antibiotics and anti-bacterial waste hourly by the ton into our gutters, sewers and streams.

1. TAKE THE APPROPRIATE ANTIBIOTIC FOR A BACTERIAL INFECTION ONLY. ANTIBIOTICS ARE USELESS AGAINST VIRAL INFECTIONS.
2. Be certain that your antibiotic is a correct match to wipe out your particular bug. Be tested.
3. Take every pill exactly as you were told even though you may feel better after the first few pills.
4. Washing your hands thoroughly with hot water and regular soap is quite effective. Use antibacterial gel only when you don’t have access to a sink.
5. Dispose of any unused antibiotics at a facility that specializes in safe and complete disposal.
6. Become socially active in insisting that hospitals and clinics and pharmaceutical companies dispose of deadly waste in a way that doesn’t threaten your survival.

Let’s not go down without a fight!

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

LINK: Know Your Enemies: Bacteria Or Virus

Breath-Counting Meditation

I’m rarely in favor of using an arbitrary count to time a breathing exercise. Our goal is to regain enough awareness of mind/body/spirit that you will know exactly how long to inhale and exhale to meet the demands of the moment. We can then build in a safe additional challenge to improve the respiration as much as possible.

Your entire being changes from minute to minute; superimposing any count based on a teacher’s decision is neither as good nor as safe as it should be (albeit easier for the teacher.) I’m a maverick on this one so you make your own choice.

Having said that, this exercise is one of my exceptions because the count itself becomes the focal point of your meditation. The count has nothing to do with timing the breathing. The length of each breath remains natural and comfortable.

Remember, one complete breath cycle is: one inhalation, a natural pause, one exhalation, and a natural pause. For Breath Counting I would suggest that you silently count each EMPTY PAUSE. Count “one” through “ten” and then begin at “one” again. Continue for as long as you can stay focused. Breath Counting is not a contest. Neither is it a measure of your progress. It is an exercise to help you find your center.

Remember that we are counting each natural pause at the end of each exhalation.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Sweeper Wisdom

To protect and preserve your irreplaceable lungs and to avoid chronic breathing problems:

1. Wear a dust mask EVERY single time you vacuum (which should be often) or,
2. INVEST in a good quality vacuum cleaner with a special filter like a HEPA.

Since the more advanced machines cost a little more, I would suggest you do your homework before purchase to be sure you are getting your money’s worth. There are review magazines available in your public library. Dealers often pad the online reviews.

The old-fashioned sweepers without filters simply churn and blow carpet garbage directly into your face (please do not make me draw another dust mite)!

Huge amounts of irritating airborne stuff will eventually settle onto your carpets and floors. In addition carpets collect all that disgusting street mess that gets tracked in on shoes and boots.

If you have a vacuum with a disposable bag, ALWAYS wear a dust mask when you dump and replace the bag. It’s a good idea to have your carpets cleaned professionally as often as you can afford. The carpets (and your lungs) will last longer.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

LINK: Sleeping with Monsters

To Smoke Or Not To Smoke

To keep your lungs healthy, the layer of mucus that covers the windpipe and bronchial tubes must be moist enough to be pushed along easily, and the tiny pushy cilia must remain strong and busy. Infection, smoking, lack of fluids, and allergies can stun or cripple the cilia, and can alter the consistency of the mucus.

When this beautiful system is challenged, damaged, or clogged, the incoming irritants and microbes are either trapped against the wall of the respiratory tract like a dirty bandage that rarely gets changed, or the irritants find an unobstructed, direct path into the deep lungs and ultimately into the bloodstream. Without the cooperative efforts of the cilia and mucus blanket, your crippled respiratory system is finally unable to cleanse itself.
Be well. Breathe beautifully.

LINK: The Path From Throat To Lungs

The Extraordinary Exchange

A net of blood vessels (so fine that the blood must squeak through one cell at a time) is laced tightly around each air sac (alveolus). The alveolar walls here are as thin as soap bubbles about to burst. This ingenious design allows oxygen to pass easily from the incoming breath, through the thin shared wall of the air sac and blood vessels and finally into the blood stream.

While the blood is sucking up oxygen from the air sac, it simultaneously gives up its carbon dioxide into that same tiny sac. Carbon dioxide is spent fuel that now must be carried away in the air about to be exhaled from all alveoli.

Your blood at that point has been refreshed with a new supply of oxygen and is ready to resume its unending duties on your behalf. It is the extraordinary exchange of gases in this inner sanctum that fuels all that you do, all that you are.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.

Link: The Path From Throat To Lungs

Late-Night Snack Attacks

Who hasn’t enjoyed the guilty pleasure of a big bowl of buttery popcorn, a comfy couch and a late movie? Buttery popcorn is probably OK for an occasional treat. But the comfy couch tends to scrunch you down into a position less than ideal for moving food easily into the stomach. The movie is your choice (although Texas Chainsaw Massacre is likely to mess with your dreams).

It takes a couple hours to chew food well, move it down your esophagus and into your stomach. If your popcorn, the dish of Rocky Road and a big slice of cold pepperoni pizza (yes, I was watching) is half-chewed, spread out along the esophagus, the food will lie in there undigested most of the night. There is always the troubling possibility that a lump of food will throw your esophagus into spasm or cause you to choke.

There is the possibility of coughing up food or stomach acid in your sleep and aspirating it into your lungs. I know it is a lot to ask that you chew each bite carefully while you are watching a horror movie. You need and deserve these occasional guilty pleasures but would you at least consider sitting up a little straighter and watching your movie at eight instead of midnight? Thanks.

Be well. Breathe beautifully.