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Editor’s Note: To see the other articles in this series click here.

Breathing may seem to be an insignificant subject, but it may be the most important activity in which we can be engaged. We can go weeks without food, and we can go days without water, but we can only survive minutes without breathing.

Patients who come into my office who are fearful, anxious, worried about life, in pain, are not breathing correctly, and their breathing problems contribute to their illnesses. They are breathing shallowly, sometimes almost gasping for breath; their steps are short, their shoulders are slumped, head down. Some of these people, upon my trying to help them to break the cycle of anxiety and shallow breathing, find it extremely difficult to breathe deeply, or to exhale deeply.

When our children were very young, sometimes they would come running to us, crying, sobbing over some incident or some painful “owie.” Their deep crying resulted in efforts to catch their breath that would take several minutes to restore to normalcy. Sometimes toddlers in a tantrum will hold their breath. Pain and worry as adults have similar effects, and the resultant effects on our bodies can be longer lasting. We spend small fortunes regulating what we eat and drink in hopes of becoming healthier, but we all too often give little thought to what and how we are breathing.

Believe it or not, air is very much alive, and represents a much needed “food” source, for which no digestion is required. The air is filled with heat, light and energy–even life itself. Odors from the earth, grass, trees, flowers, plants and foods will all provide microscopic bits of energy that are important for our lives and sustenance. The best of these can only come from pure air.

Contaminated air is poison to us. We should avoid breathing it, as it will not supply the sources so necessary to our being well. These kinds of air include: rebreathing air in crowded places such as theaters, tightly populated churches, airplanes, subways. Homes and offices may have inadequate ventilation. Contaminated air can come in the form of pollutions from gasses, exhausts, and sewers. It is better to move out of your present home or work location if pure air cannot be accessed in those places.

Breathing is usually an unconscious activity, but conscious breathing can be extremely healthy if done in the proper way. The spine should be straight, shoulders back, and the chest expanded for the best function of breathing. Weight lifting, holding heavy items in front of the body, will strengthen and tighten the chest muscles (pectoralis minor), which will pull the shoulders forward, creating a hollow and rigid chest. This will create a shallow and difficult breathing process.

A person who is breathing for health will focus on keeping the spine straight and head erect, with shoulders back and chest expanded. During exhalation, he or she will drop the shoulders and focus on releasing the tensions of that day. During the exhalation process, which is a movement of contraction, we need to “let go” of “dirt, dust, and greasy grime” from our lives. These include our fears, which are only False Evidences Appearing Real . We must learn to let go of anything that is impeding our progress, and things we don’t want in our lives, including harmful relationships, abuse, pain, and unpleasant memories. As we exhale, we should breathe all of the air out, which creates space so that the new can be received into our bodies and lives. We should take about four times longer to exhale than to inhale.

As we inhale, our spines should be straight, shoulders back, and chest expanded. We are now able to receive the living energy from the air around us. We should focus on receiving and becoming and attracting what we want in our lives in this inhalation process. We should breathe all the way in, so that we can receive all that life has to offer us. This is a movement of expansion. We should breathe in through the nose, if it is open, which will help to filter out some of the impurities in the air.

As time and occasion permit, we should perform the exhale and inhale in sets of nine, four or more times per day. We can do this when we are walking, on a break, upon awakening, or upon going to sleep at night. Any area where we don’t need to be focused on other activities will permit a chance to focus on breathing.

Pay attention to your breathing, and watch for what it tells you about yourself. Deep, slow breathing indicates contentment, while shallow, short breaths indicate anxiety and stress. If you are unable to relax while breathing and deliberately slow down and extend the process, you need to look carefully at the factors causing dis-ease in your life, and take yourself to a quiet place where the air is fresh and clean, and you can gratefully breathe more good into your life.