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Wh Slow Down the Breath

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Slow Down the Breath

Andre Van Lysebeth, Belgium

'Breath is life; hence the better we breathe the better we live.' Of course we all know this, but we don't think of it and apply it as often as necessary! To breathe slowly is to prolong one's youth and one's life.' So say the yogic texts which caution us to breathe as if, at birth, only a fixed and immutable number of breaths had been allotted to us. If this is so, then each slow breath we take preserves our precious respiratory credit balance and prolongs our existence. It can even be considered as an obligation, because if we are pre-programmed in this way, it is because we have a task to accomplish, a destiny to fulfil, in that limited span of time.
A failure in arithmetic

In the matter of respiration, simple arithmetic breaks down. A sedentary person breathes about 18 times a minute, and with each inhalation, he takes in half a litre of air. Now, compare him to a yogi who slows down his breath, either temporarily or permanently, so that he breathes only twice a minute, but inhales 4 litres of air with each breath (4 litres is not exceptional; rowers, among others, reach a capacity of 6 litres). In both cases, the quantity of air reaching the lungs per minute will be the same - 9 litres. The question then arises: what is the use of breathing slowly, if the total volume of air remains the same? In fact, the yogi obtains a greater quantity of oxygen and expels more gaseous toxins, especially carbon dioxide, than the sedentary person who breathes superficially 18 times a minute. This is because it is not the volume of air which matters, but the quantity of oxygen which is actually absorbed and assimilated by the body. Air is a nourishment and requires time to be digested, just like any liquid or solid food in the digestive tract.
Time and surface area

The quantity of oxygen actually absorbed by the blood depends mainly on two factors: the surface area of contact between the air and the pulmonary membrane, or alveolar wall; and the duration of contact. Superficial breathing only involves a small part of the total alveolar surface. Our lungs contain about 70 million alveoli joined in small clusters. Scientists have estimated their total surface area, when unfolded, to be anywhere from 100 to 150 sq. m. If, in the space of 1 minute, 9 litres of air come into contact with 100 sq. m. of alveolar wall, instead of only 4 or 5 sq. m., a larger quantity of venous blood is able to absorb the oxygen- not to mention the prana! In a person who breathes superficially, therefore, a significant proportion of the blood which is filtered through the lungs does not meet fresh air, and is directed back towards the heart without having been purified and re-oxygenated. When it is prolonged, this situation is disastrous, and in most people it is a usual way of life. Only exceptionally, during physical exercise (and our modern life tends to spare us from this more and more), does the breath become deeper. There is a second essential condition for the optimal utilization of the inhaled air: the time factor. The exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide takes place only under very precise conditions of intrapulmonary pressure and under definite time constraints. The pressure of the two gases on either side of the alveolar walls must equalize before this exchange can take place, and this process takes 10-20 seconds. Therefore, the surface of diffusion is greatly increased by inhaling deeply and retaining the inhaled air.
In practice

www. ogamag.net/archives/1981/ldec81/slow.shtml

We can certainly draw some conclusions from this for our practice and our day to day life. Whenever we think about it, we can breathe slowly, deeply and with awareness,

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air does notWh Slow Down the Breath have time to be warmed up to the right temperature and the nose does not get warmed up enough by the exhaled air. This brings about a lowering of temperature with all its unpleasant consequences. To absorb the same amount of oxygen, a person who breathes more slowly and deeply needs to warm up a smaller total volume of air than someone else who breathes too quickly. Therefore less heat will be lost. But also, if the breath is slower and deeper, the body will improve its internal combustion and will quickly and efficiently liberate the heat necessary to maintain the right internal temperature. Therefore, the best means to protect oneself against the hazard of a chill, when going out of a warm room into the cold, is to breathe slowly and deeply. All of this goes to show that the yogic saying which tells us to breathe as if we only have a fixed number of breaths allocated to us, contains a deep wisdom and intuitive knowledge of physiology. Therefore let us breathe slowly and deeply, each time we think of it. And let's hope that it is often.
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