Very Healthy Breathing Exercises – The 1st Step to Meditation

On an earlier post I reminded everyone to breathe. But remembering to breath properly in stress situations is only part of healthy breathing. We should all do deep, cleansing, breathing exercises daily for optimum health.


Be Honest, are you getting the exercise you should be doing? If not, why not start with some deep breathing? The health benefits have been shown to help out with the stress related illnesses I talked about in my last post.

Here are all the technical reasons why we should be doing these exercises.

Breathing serves as the pump for the lymphatic system just as the heart serves the circulatory system. Your cells must have oxygen to survive moment to moment. To thrive, they rely on a complex exchange between the circulatory system and the lymphatic system. Blood flow carries nutrients and ample amounts of oxygen into the capillaries, while a healthy lymphatic system carries away destructive toxins. Proper breathing is the moderator of this exchange.

We don’t often think about our lymph nodes unless we hear about someone with cancer, which is surprising, because we have twice as much lymphatic fluid as blood in our bodies.

So what is the lymphatic system? It could be likened to the body’s sewer system. Lymph vessels form a drainage system throughout the body. Our cells swim in an ocean of lymphatic fluid that carries away the detritus of our immune system, including dead white blood cells, unused plasma protein and toxins.

Blood is pumped around the body by the heart, transporting nutrients and oxygen to the cells. Once the cells have absorbed what they need, they excrete debris and toxins, which then get flushed and deactivated by lymphatic fluid.

The lymph fluid then drains into the circulatory system through two ducts at the base of your neck (the thoracic duct), and becomes part of the blood and plasma that pass through the kidneys and liver. But unlike your circulatory system, your lymph system does not have a built-in pump. It relies on the act of breathing and bodily movement to move all that waste fluid around.

The consequence of a sluggish lymphatic system is that you cannot detoxify properly. And if you aren’t breathing deeply or moving regularly, chances are your lymph fluid is not flowing as well as it could. As you can well imagine, this can lead to health concerns over time, including weight gain, muscle loss, high blood pressure, fatigue, and inflammation.

But the great news is that you can improve your lymph system cleansing by learning to practice deep breathing. The expansion and contraction of the diaphragm actually stimulates your lymphatic system and massages your internal organs, helping the body rid itself of toxins, and leaving more room in the cells for an optimal exchange of oxygen.

And while you are helping your body to clean house, you’ll also be fighting stress.

I could go on and on but my fingers are getting tired. CLICK HERE for a great link from Women to Women Web that takes the reasons a little further. But credit where it’s do. CLICK HERE for a link to The University of Missouri where some bright student posted some great breathing exercises.

Remembering to breathe, so I can see you later.