Breath for Life

Breath for life is a set of deep breathing exercises that should form a part of your health goal setting. Correct breathing will boost your body’s self healing energy necessary for abundant health.

Breathing is a matter of life and death. 

It is the act of breathing that brings oxygen into your body. You would not be able to survive for more than a few minutes without oxygen.

It is oxygen that gives you the energy required by your body to distribute nutrients to all its cells. These nutrients are extracted from the foods that you eat and from the supplements that you might take. The nutrients are metabolized by the body into living tissue. 

The creation of living tissue is life! 

Breath for Life, How to Be Organized.com

But what is life?

Remember when you last cut your finger? It was bleeding, you wash it, poured on some iodine and wrapped it in a bandage. After a day or two, the cut was heeled.

Now, if you thought that the iodine and the bandage healed the cut, go down to the butcher shop and buy a steak. Bring it home and cut it. Pour on some iodine and wrap it in a bandage. Do you think that it will heal?

Well, now you thinking that I am being silly because it is dead. 

But that is the point that I am making! 

The bandage and the iodine did not heal the cut, life did.

Life is the organic phenomenon that distinguishes living organisms from nonliving ones. It is life that ensures the creation of new cells which replace old and sick cells in the body. Your body’s self healing energy.

In addition to the distribution of nutrients in the body, oxygen also controls the flow of lymph in the body.

Lymph is a fluid which contains white blood cells and protects your body against bacteria and viruses. Lymph surrounds all cells in your body and it is your body’s sewage system through which the body rids itself of toxins and dead cells.

The rate by which your body rids itself of toxins is directly proportional to the quality of your breathing. It has been shown that deep breathing exercises combined with moderate physical exercise speeds up the rate of lymph drainage by as much as 15 times.

In addition to the physical benefits of deep breathing exercises, there are also psychological benefits. Deep breathing relaxes the chest muscles and has a calming effect on the entire nervous system which in turn relieves mental and emotional stress.

This is the reason why most pregnant women are taught deep breathing exercises to help minimize the pain during childbirth and why, people are advised to take a deep breath whenever they feel anxious or excited.

You do not need any special equipment to start your breath for life deep breathing exercises.

This is all you need to do.

Take 10 breaths using the following ratios:

1. Inhale for 4 seconds (4 counts)

2. Hold your breath for 16 seconds (16 counts)

3. Exhale for 8 seconds (8 counts)

Do the above set 3 times a day. In the morning, at lunch time and in the evening. Breathe from the abdomen and as you breathe in, imagine all the life giving energy entering your body.

When you breathe out imagine all those toxins and poisons leaving your body.

If you find it difficult to maintain the above counts, reduce them by the same amount in order to maintain the 1:4:2 ration to inhaling, holding the breath and exhaling.

The reason for holding your breath is to allow the blood to fully oxygenate and activate the lymphatic system. In other words, to absorb the oxygen into the blood stream and for the lymph to release the toxins into your lungs.

The reason for exhaling for twice as long as inhaling is that it is the breathing out which releases the toxins, in the form of carbon dioxide, from your body. You need to ensure that you are getting them all out.


Deep breathing exercises can of course be combined with any form of aerobic exercise as you will learn when you read through my Benefits to Exercise section.

There is a great way to keep your nasal passages clear. Performing regular nasal sinus irrigations using a neti pot. There is a page on this site with neti pot instructions.

The page that you have just read, is part of my section on Health Related Fitness. In the next subsection I talk about the role that nutrition plays in our total health.

You have read how breathing is essential to keep you alive. Deep breathing exercises teach you how to breathe correctly. One of the smartest things that you can do to improve your health is to start your breath for life routine today.

Go from Breath for Life to Why is Nutrition Important?

Go from Breath for Life to Health Related Fitness