I’ve had a few yoga teachers say “The slower your breath, the longer your life.” And because I’m into living as long as possible, I’ve taken this to heart.
Breathing is a weird thing. I think the first time I noticed its effects on me was about 10 years ago when I decided my high school prom dress was the thing to wear. It zipped! But only when I wasn’t breathing. I was super anxious and irritable that night. And when the dress unzipped, I took my first real breath in hours. Whoooo. Suddenly peaceful.
Breathing is a weird thing. It’s the only thing we can do either unconsciously or consciously. We can be aware of it and alter it, or be unaware of it and it does what it does. Some amount and speed of inhales and exhales.
Breathing is a really weird thing. It speeds up and slows down according to our mental state, and our mental state alters when the breathing speeds up and slows down.
We’ve made some crappy habits of the most natural thing we do. Literally the first and last thing we do in our lives, and we’ve figured out how to mess it up!
This is all kinda crazy, but results in a stupidly simple way to instantly improve and lengthen your life. Make a habit of breathing. Of noticing if you’re breathing. Are you forgetting to inhale or exhale? I forget to inhale and I have a few friends who forget to exhale.
The holidays are coming up. Start breathing now.
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