Hey All!
As I progress with this blog, I'm going to introduce many concepts to you. These concepts are sometimes completely opposite to one another...or just appear that way. However, once you understand the concepts, you realize that you just had a physics lesson. The opposites attract and complement each other. That is true balance.
Ying and Yang are said to be complete opposites of one another, however they balance each other. Without one, there is no other. You may think that one can survive without the other (it is possible) but the sum of the parts are greater than the parts themselves. Think about this in the back of your mind while I proceed.
Human beings are either moving or still. Nowadays, especially in New York City, it's very difficult to keep still. Even when you're packed in like sardines on a crowded train, you can't move but you can't keep still either. I like to pat myself on the back because even in the midst of chaos, I can be still within myself, maintaining a certain peace. Too bad the person elbowing me brings my awareness back to the ding dang train! LOL
The concepts of movement and stillness are bound by everything we do. Even when our bodies don't move, our minds are not still. Our souls may be restless. When you move your mouth and sound comes out, that movement is called noise. The opposite of noise is silence. Silence and stillness seem very similar, in this respect.
The reason I want to introduce these concepts to you now are manifold. The good news is that these two concepts have to do with breathing. The bad news is you'll have a lot to read before I get to that point!! LOL
There are many forms of silence: there is the silence between my posts; there is the silence that two people share when engaged in conversation; there is the silence of a quiet room; there is the silence of a quiet mind. I want you to know that even through all of these forms of silence, there is still movement. Some of it can be considered "noise."
Let's talk about the silence between my posts. When I speak about "silence", I'm talking about the amount of time it takes for me to put up a new post. The movements are created and performed by me. My "noise" may be in the form of research, getting my life together, or just trying to figure out how to take the things from my mind and putting them into this blog. You know, the noise of organization. You don't have to see or hear the noise, but it's there. I buzz all of the time. :)
The second reason for the silence between posts is to give readers a chance to take all of the information I have given and try somethings out. Experiment with other concepts and lessons I have provided. If it takes me a month between posts to talk about posture, I can only pray that some of you are taking that month to look at your posture and make the proper decisions in regards to either making it better or maintaining what you have already achieved. It will be the same with any topic I speak on...unless my brain can't hold things anymore and I do 3 posts in one day! It's a very rare feat so don't worry about that. ;)
As a health counselor, I have to learn how to be a good active listener. It doesn't mean that I let you talk all day and I say nothing. Sometimes, people do that and they're not listening. They're just hearing (the function that your ear naturally does when sound enters the inner canal) and not paying attention. Being an active listener means that you are not only hearing, but you are being attentive, and absorbing what is said in the moment. When you actively listen and engage in conversation, sometimes there will still be moments of silence. It's not because there is nothing more to say. You mind is in constant "movement," wondering if you should say more or waiting for the other person to respond.
People say that when there is silence, it means that something needs to be said but you don't know how to say it or are wondering if you should say it at all. If you ever encounter a health counselor and you have this silence, say what you feel. Health counselors love this silence because it gives them time to write their notes. It also gives you time to add or further explain things that may really be helpful in your process and progress.
The silence of a quiet room can be scary at times. You may be still but your mind is moving and other things are moving as well. Your ears are working overtime, since you can now hear paper rustling and such. You can hear bugs moving or an appliance of some sort doing it's electronic magic. You may hear noise from outside and be startled because you don't know where it's coming from.
So what is scarier? The silence in a quiet room or the silence of a quiet mind? When you quiet your mind, you can hear all kinds of "noise," just like in a quiet room. You don't know where these noises are coming from...that voice inside your head...those images you see, even if your eyes are open. The goosebumps you suddenly feel. You can now feel the wind brushing on those baby hairs on your arms. Your other senses pick up all kinds of things your conscious doesn't understand.
Traditional Meditation is the quiet mind in a quiet room. Dang! Double trouble!! Most of us can't stand being alone, much less dealing with quiet. Especially in NYC (yeah we pray for silence but then when we get it, it's like a really bad culture shock). That's why most people don't do it. They can't take all that silence or the stillness of your inner self.
It's ok. Breathing is the tool to help you control your movement and appreciate stillness. Meditation is one of the techniques that uses breathing to heal you.
In my next blog, I will go more in detail about the methods used for good breathing and using the breath to heal on many levels. For now, I've got to get my research on so that I can get you up to latest information.
One more thing. I have homework for you!
Google this name: John Douillard
Take a look at his book, "Body, Mind, and Sport". Once I get my Amazon widget together, I'll have it in my blog so you can buy the book directly. I will also do this with other items I would recommend you buy and try.
Until my next post,
stay strong, stay healthy, and fight dis-ease!
A while back, I spoke about what I called "the OD Factor." OD can mean "OverDoit" "OverDose" or even "OverlyDone". Basically, it means not to take anything too far or go overboard with any information that is given to you. While I was walking during lunch, I realized a couple of things that I need to tell you in regards to breathing. It's easy for people to learn new information, get excited and then do it so much or without proper instruction, that they hurt themselves. Breathing is too important of a process to get it wrong...it's one thing to experiment on yourself when you have proper awareness but as a beginner with no real awareness, it's a no no.
- Like anything, mastering takes time. There is no way you can get proper posture or breathing without taking time to make sure you get it right. This is why, in addition to giving you tips, I also give you ways to achieve these goals with professional assistance. When it comes to health, I do not follow the "no pain, no gain" philosophy. That may work if you're in a gym, competing with yourself or the person next to you or in a contest but lifestyle changes do not work that way. Now don't get me wrong, you may have discomfort and you may have pain in an effort to become a healthier person. What I don't want you to think is that if you do feel discomfort or pain, that you should keep on going. NO WAY! This is especially true with breathing. If you are trying to do something and you feel discomfort and pain, stop it immediately and breathe the way you are used to. After a while, then you can try it again. Baby steps are important.
- When I was walking down the street for lunch, I breathed through my nose and noticed mucus forming. Some of it started to drip. If your nose drips when you're breathing through your nose, then clean it up. Wipe the outside of your nostrils with your hands but do not blow it out. If you want to clean out the inside of your nose, use a tissue. If the nasal drip goes the other way, you should spit it out or swallow it (hey, sometimes it travels that fast LOL). Do not get frustrated or upset that you got plenty of mucus or that you couldn't spit or swallow in time. Even if you do blow your nose in the cold and you feel the effects, don't get upset and deterred. That is your mind trying to stop you from being healthy. More on that in a second.
- In later posts, I'm going to talk about different methods of breathing and certain techniques that help you to breathe with great effect. Like I said in the #1, breathing properly is tricky and learning how to do it can be dangerous. For instance, in Tai Chi (one of the methods used to attain proper breathing) there is a technique called "turning the wheel". I'm not going to explain how this works but if you were to read up on it, there would be a disclaimer of sorts saying "do not attempt to practice this technique unless under the guidance of a skilled master/teacher. Doing this on your own can cause kidney problems and even kidney failure." Although I am adept in breathing and can breathe from the lowest parts of my womb, I do not consciously do this technique. Even if I realize that I am doing it, I stop and return to my normal breath.
- In #2, I spoke about the mind trying to stop you from being healthy. It's not the mind's intention to stop you from being healthy. The mind gets really comfortable with what is going on so when change comes, it will fight by bringing out certain emotions like anger, frustration, and fear so that you stop what you're doing and continue on the path that it's used to. This is where the mind-body disconnect comes in. Your body knows what it needs to do to heal and cleanse you and make you healthy. However, your mind has different ideas because of everyday stress. As all this stress makes your body go into "emergency" mode, it gives control to the mind...leading you to where you are today. Awareness is allowing your body to take control of those things that it has to control - your physical health. Your body has no problems telling you that you should stop doing something or you need something but it's often your mind that puts those requests to the side, taking control. To create a good mind-body connection, you have to be able to let go. Sometimes relinquishing control is the only way to get something under control. You may not get that right now...but stick with me and you will, ok? :D
See
I'm going to explain a couple of things to you. Before I start, I want to tell you that most people's bodies are functioning in "emergency" or "survival" mode on a constant basis. This is because of stress, your mind-body disconnect, and other reasons that I will reveal in later posts.
The digestive process starts with your mouth.
The breathing process starts with your nose.
(I have tried my experiment with 5 more people and it was basically the same results as my last blog. I did notice, however, that people who are aware of their breathing and know how to breathe had less problems than those who did not.)
In the wintertime, the air is dry and cold. Since your nose likes to be moist, your body will naturally send mucus to your nostrils so that it can be moist (that's why when you breathe in the wintertime through your nose, the boogies will start to run down your nose. Clear mucus means that your body is trying to moisturize; thick mucus means that your body is trying to heal itself from sickness). Since your mind thinks that mucus is a bad thing (even though your body has a certain amount of mucus that is needed for many functions), it will want you to open your mouth so that you don't have nasal drip. This is where the mind-body disconnect comes in.
The problem with this is that your mouth should only used for breathing in emergencies. Your nostrils has hair in it to help trap and filter out dust and other toxins so that you lungs can take in air. When you breathe through your mouth, the air (with the dust and toxins) goes straight to your throat. This is the catalyst for a sore throat, which can lead to colds (head and chest) and flu.
Another thing people do that is a no-no is try to blow their nose (or suck the mucus in) while outside, in the cold. When you do this, you are making your sinuses even drier, which will cause the body to form more mucus, to moisturize and heal the damage caused. Constantly doing this (especially outside in the cold) will decrease the efficiency of your nasal functions, which can lead to head colds.
THE POWER OF AIR
THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
It's one thing to talk about the respiratory system but it's even more amazing to visualize it properly to understand. Most people, myself included, learned from school that the respiratory system looks like this:
While this is not an incorrect description of the respiratory system, it is inaccurate and in a way, misleading. Let me show you this picture so I can better explain why I feel this way:
In this picture, you see some added organs - the diaphragm and the abdomen. The reason why the first picture is misleading is because it promotes chest breathing. When you breathe from your chest, you're actually putting extra work on your lungs. Proper breathing comes from the diaphragm and the abdomen.The purpose of respiration is to exchange gases. Oxygen comes in and Carbon Dioxide goes out (one process of elimination, the elimination of gaseous waste). When you breathe from the chest area like the lungs, air comes in but not enough to fully oxygenate the lungs, which in turn gives the blood and cells their necessary dose of oxygen. Breathing from the diaphragm ensures that the lungs are completely filled with air, which in turn properly oxygenates the blood and cells as well as fully excrete Carbon Dioxide. The abdomen complements the diaphragm by making sure the enough muscle movement is done in the lungs so that transporting nutrients (oxygen) and toxins (carbon dioxide) is done for the whole body.
What you need to understand is that the lungs are truly a filter. The upper part of the lungs filter out the carbon dioxide and the lower part of your lungs also aid in the movement of this filtering process to the lymphatic system and your blood.
Now that you understand what organs are truly used for breathing and a basic understanding of how this works, I'm going to leave it here. Next time, we are going to get into how to properly breathe through the diaphragm and exercises that can help you attain that kind of breathing. I will also go further into how the breath can affect parts of your body and do amazing things like ending pain (yep, you read right). This will lead into techniques that can help you to breathe properly and gain better understanding of this complex process of breathing.
Until then,
stay strong, stay healthy, and fight dis-ease!
References - put your mouse over the pictures to see where they have come from. I will write the links out very soon. :)
I was going to speak more about depression but I think I covered that enough. School officially starts next week and I'm ready to move into the next phase of health. Now that we have the mental aspect of health covered (and believe me, it will be updated as time goes on), I want to transition into they physical aspects of health. I'm still not going to talk about food (yet!) but I will talk about issues that are just as important, if not more so to most people.
I plan on writing to you about the 4 Essentials to achieving and maintaining health that are the most often neglected. Most "connoisseurs of health" talk about these things much later in their processes but I want to talk about them first and get them out of the way so that you have an even firmer foundation for health.
These 4 Essentials are: Sleep, Posture, Water, and Breath. I don't care how much you exercise, how well you eat, how many herbal teas you make or how often you detox. It's not going to make a lick of difference if these 4 Essentials are not taken care of.
I want you to know that even though weight loss is always on my mind, it's in the back of my mind. There are ladies and gentlemen out there that may need to gain weight in order to be healthy. As a matter of fact, it's good for you to understand that just because a person is deemed "skinny" or has a "great body", doesn't mean that they are at optimal health. Looking good, feeling good and being well (a state of wellness, which is true health) are different concepts, depending on the individual. While sleeping well may not be a contributing factor in weight loss, it is a major factor in making sure that your body functions as well as your mind are at rest and capable of performing the necessary functions to maintain health and balance while you are awake. Even though Water has a slew of health benefits - internally and externally, including weight loss, most would probably be surprised to know that breathing properly can reach the same goals (internal and external health benefits as well as weight loss) in a different way. Posture is often talked about briefly in regards to general health but for the most part, it's only focused on when you have serious issues with your back, neck, shoulders, or spine. Proper posture deals with so much more than that and I feel that it is of the utmost importance when you have overweight/obese individuals lose weight.
I have decided that I would like to take a couple of days to a week on each subject. I will also transition into other topics so that you have a complete understanding of what you must do for yourself to achieve and maintain health. My goal is to have each person that reads these posts understand concepts that the mainstream really doesn't talk about so that you can maintain health in your own way. Sure, we can eat food to lose weight and we can exercise to firm muscles and build up our cardiovascular system. However, without these 4 essentials, it will all be in vain because you can still be prone to disease as well as dis-ease.
All I ask of you at this moment is patience. A lot of things are going to happen at once so I won't be able to put up the blogs as often as I would like (actually it's not as often as I would like it to be right now LOL). If I am not able to put up a blog, please look over to the "Health Related Links" for more information on any of these subjects.
We are all works in progress. So let's get to working on this progress! ;)
In the meantime...
stay strong, stay healthy, and fight dis-ease!
