It’s a good idea to
practice breathing at half that rate, because 6 to 8 breaths per minute has proven to be a “therapeutic” zone. And many conditions like stress and high blood pressure, PTSD, ADD, chronic fatigue, asthma, anxiety, nervous disorders, and behavioral problems can be improved or even eliminated with Breath Control.
When we breathe, oxygen in the air is taken into the lungs and carried in the blood to every single cell of our body. Oxygen is used to burn glucose: and this is called cellular respiration. The blood returns waste products like carbon dioxide to your lungs to be breathed out of the system.
By the way, the body creates and kills an astounding 15 million blood cells every single second! Read that again! I love this stuff!
During a hard run, your respiratory rate can climb to 80 breaths per minute.
A normal adult at rest takes in about ½ liter of air per breath. With a deep breath we can take in 10 times that much.
We breathe about
11,000 liters of air per day. We also breathe out ½ liter of water each day. In all, the lungs process about 4 million liters of air per year.
And you will inhale about 45 pounds of dust if you live to the age of 80.
The lungs are amazing. They can survive outside the body longer than any other organ. And it’s the only organ that can float!
The word “lung” comes from the 13th century European language, which means “light,” as in not heavy for its size.
There are 300
to 400 millions alveoli in the lungs. (Those are microscopic air sacs that look like tiny clusters of grapes out at the tip of the smallest branches of the bronchial tree.)
The total surface area of the lungs is almost 100 square meters, or about the size of a tennis court! Fully developed adult lungs contain about 1500 miles of airways!
The chemistry of breathing is fascinating. For example, the primary stimulus for breathing is carbonic acid (H2CO3): this is what you get when
you mix carbon dioxide with water. It’s the fizz in champagne and soda. It’s also found in rain.
Carbonic Acid plays a vital role in keeping your pH in balance. The bicarbonate ion released from acid serves as a buffer—this means it can act as an acid or a base, depending on what is needed in the moment. Amazing, isn’t it?
You turn over in your sleep every half hour or so, mostly to balance the breath thru each nostril. And, in case you are interested, the nose produces about 2
eggcups or shot glasses of mucus every day!
Did you know that a row of buttons was first sewn onto sleeves to keep soldiers from using them to wipe their noses! Some people say Napoleon came up with the idea; others credit George Washington.
Sneezing
The medical term for sneezing is “sternutation.” It is sort of a re-booting of the nose. It’s an automatic expulsion of air through the nose and mouth, usually caused by foreign particles irritating the nasal mucosa. Sneezing helps keep your body safe.
The sneeze center is in your lower brain stem. It’s a complicated and coordinated event, involving muscles in your back, neck, abdomen, diaphragm, throat, vocal cords, face, and chest—with some muscles contracting and others relaxing. Even your eyelid muscles are involved. We close our eyes when we sneeze.
The ancient Greeks thought that sneezing was a sign from the gods. And this theme cuts across many cultures.
In some people, sneezing can be triggered by sudden exposure to bright light. These people are called photic.
Plucking your eyebrows can trigger a facial nerve, resulting in a sneeze!
It is believed that sneezed air travels up to 100 miles per hour, and the spray can travel more than five feet!
Most people sneeze once or twice or three times in a row. The longest sneezing spell is said to be 978 days: a record set by a woman named Donna Griffiths.
New research suggests that
if we pinch our nose shut while sneezing, the backpressure triggers a surge in the production of nitric oxide (NO) in the sinuses. Nitric oxide is a natural vasodilator and a powerful antibacterial.
And here’s an interesting fact: We never sneeze in our sleep. It cannot occur when we are sleeping.
Snoring
Forty-five percent of normal adults snore occasionally, and 25 percent snore habitually. Twice as many men snore as women. And the louder you snore, the higher the odds are that you are overweight.
The loudest snore (recorded in the Guinness Book of Records) was 92 decibels, by Melvin Switzer. That’s about the same as a pneumatic drill or a food blender.
Snoring can occur when we are in a very relaxed sleeping state, or when there is poor muscle tone in the throat and tongue. Alcohol, certain drugs and too much fat tissue can cause it.
When muscles are too relaxed, the tongue falls backwards into the airway and/or the throat muscles draw in from the sides, narrowing the passages. When air tries to pass through these obstacles, the snoring sound results.
The UK patent office lists over 2000 devices to prevent or treat snoring! Yet in many cases, simply turning onto your side may be all that is needed. By the way, learning to play the didgeridoo strengthens the throat muscles and can cure snoring!
Sometimes snoring can be a sign of Obstructive Sleep Apnea or some other serious medical condition. So, heavy snorers may want to seek medical advice.
Hiccups
Food and breath can enter the body thru the same channel—up to a point. Then the passage separates into the esophagus, which leads to the stomach, and the bronchial passage, which leads to the lungs.
Standing guard at that fork in the road is a very important little flap of skin called the epiglottis. When we swallow, the epiglottis closes off the windpipe to prevent food and liquids from getting down into the lungs.
Sometimes, if we eat or drink too quickly, the epiglottis can’t do its job and we say something “goes down the wrong pipe.”It has probably happened to all of us at some point.
If a serious chunk of food goes down the wrong pipe, the airway can become completely blocked. This is a life-threatening event and the “Heimlich Maneuver” may be required. (If you have not learned this procedure, you should! And you should also learn CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation), because, well, you just never know…
Anyway… From time to time the diaphragm contracts due to spasm. When this happens, an inhale is inadvertently triggered. Normally when we inhale, the epiglottis gets the message that breathing is happening and it remains open to allow air into the lungs. However, when a spasm of the diaphragm occurs, the epiglottis isn’t notified that a breath is happening, and it slams shut.
That’s what a hiccup is: spasm of the diaphragm followed by the sudden closing of the glottis.
Did I tell you I love this stuff?
Sometimes hiccups can go on for quite a while. The average is five minutes—regardless of what “cure” you employ to stop them.
When I was young, I hated the hiccups! I found them to be very painful, so I learned to prevent them by keeping my epiglottis open. As a result, I experience a rush of air into my lungs with each spasm of the diaphragm instead of the usual hiccup! And the spasms stop after only two or three “rushes.”
We will get back to some “serious” stuff next month! In the meantime, if you come across any interesting information or fun facts about breathing, please send them my way!
And please go to www.breathmastery.com.
Download your free copy of my book, “Shut Up And Breathe!”http://www.breathmastery.com/shutupandbreathe/
Enroll in the Online Course: 21 Lessons in the Art and Science of Breathwork. http://breathmastery.com/onlinecourse
For more info: http://www.breathmastery.com/sneezing-snoring-hiccups-and-some-fun-facts-about-breathing/
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