I can see myself doing deep breathing

Last night, I thought about doing my deep breathing. Just contemplated it. Would I have done it if this was the actual practice month? Maybe, maybe not. Hard to tell.

This morning, I didn't do it. I thought about it while making breakfast, but I have such an established routine on Sunday mornings with so little time for additions that I can only see myself doing it if I find some way to fit it in while doing something else, which sort of negates the whole point of it.

But it is so important!

From healingdaily.com:

Deep breathing is important because it makes your lymphatic system work better. What is the lymph system? Some people think of it as the body’s sewage system. Every cell in your body is surrounded by lymph.


Here’s how the lymph system works: Blood is pumped from your heart through your arteries to the thin, porous capillaries. The blood carries nutrients and oxygen to the capillaries, where they are diffused into this fluid around the cells called lymph. The cells, having an intelligence or affinity for what they need, take nutrients and oxygen for their health and then excrete toxins, some of which go back into the capillaries. But dead cells, blood proteins, and other toxic material must be removed by the lymphatic system. And the lymphatic system is activated by deep breathing.

Yet another reason to do it!

Deep Breathing Benefits

I will admit that I did not even contemplate doing my deep breathing last night. When I get home from work on a Friday afternoon, all I want to do is kick off my shoes and curl up on the couch with my dog--no responsibilities, not even for my own health! I went to bed late after watching a movie and sleep seemed more important than a little pre-sleep relaxation.

However, this morning, I was great! I did my deep breathing AND I went to yoga class, where I did some more! Hooray for me!

From womentowomen.com:

In a 2005 review and analysis of several studies, Richard Brown, MD, and Patricia Gerbarg, MD, reported that yogic deep-breathing techniques were extremely effective in handling depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders. These techniques can serve as an excellent adjunct to conventional medical treatment — or in some cases as a suitable substitute — in treating myriad psychological disorders, as well as eating disorders and obesity.

Shallow breathing (or chest breathing) causes a constriction of the chest and lung tissue over time, decreasing oxygen flow and delivery to your tissues. Deep, rhythmic breathing expands the diaphragm muscle, the cone-shaped muscle under your lungs, expanding the lung’s air pockets, invoking the relaxation response, and massaging the lymphatic system.


Deep breathing is the fastest way to trigger your parasympathetic nervous system, through what some practitioners call the relaxation response. Further review and analysis of research by Drs. Brown and Gerbarg resulted in the development of a new neuropsychological theory for how yogic breathing may affect the stress response system and calm the mind and body. Their recent article in Current Psychiatry shows how trained deep breathing can relieve trauma symptoms.

How great is deep breathing?

From path2healthyliving.com:

• Recent studies show fast breathing rate is linked to high blood pressure
• Studies have shown deep breathing benefits asthma sufferers.
• Deep breathing reduces stress-if you are stressed, you breath in short, shallow bursts-To relax you do the opposite - breathing deeply
• Deep breathing releases endorphins-the bodies own painkillers, into the system. This can help relieve headaches, sleeplessness, backaches and other stress related aches and pains.
• Deep breathing helps to clear and focus the mind
• Deep breathing strengthens weak abdominal and intestinal muscles

   

I thought about doing my deep breathing this morning--I even had time, also, before I had to leave to catch my bus. Will I remember tonight? That remains to be seen.

Bennies of Meditation

Physiological Benefits of Meditation

 

• Deep rest-as measured by decreased metabolic rate, lower heart rate, and reduced work load of the heart.
• Lowered levels of cortisol and lactate-two chemicals associated with stress.
• Reduction of free radicals- unstable oxygen molecules that can cause tissue damage.
• Improved blood pressure.
• Higher skin resistance. Low skin resistance is correlated with higher stress and anxiety levels.
• Drop in cholesterol levels. High cholesterol is associated with cardiovascular disease. 
• Improved flow of air to the lungs resulting in easier breathing. This has been very helpful to asthma patients.
• Slows down the aging process.

 Psychological Benefits of Meditation

 

• Increased brain wave coherence.
• Greater creativity.
• Decreased anxiety.
• Decreased depression
• Decreased irritability and moodiness
• Improved learning ability and memory.
• Increased self-actualization.
• Increased feelings of vitality and rejuvenation.
• Increased happiness.
• Increased emotional stability.

Captain's Log: Star Date 10/14/2010

For my Principles of Health Behavior class, I am supposed to pick a behavior that I want to change about myself. I have picked adding 5 minutes of meditation or deep breathing to my day, twice a day (once in the morning and once at night).

This week, I am supposed to keep a log of my observations about this activity.

Today, even knowing that I am supposed to be doing this, I did not even think about deep breathing or meditation until about 10AM. I was walking down the stairs to go outside of my work building and remembered that I was supposed to think about doing this sometime during the morning. Possibly I need some kind of reminder? I don't have any alarms left on my cell phone to use. Something to think about.

I also feel as stressed as ever. Just thinking about meditating, apparently, does not work.

Procrastination

Ugh. Why is so hard to do something as easy as keeping a journal? And why does the word procrastination have the prefix "pro" in it? Yuck.

I really did cook lots of things between my last post and now, but I have a seven page long list of why I didn't record them. I did pick up a nice pamphlet of bread pudding recipes while I was in Kansas, and threw together a delicious blueberry bread pudding (all organic, picked the blueberries myself on a friend's farm in Gresham) for someone at work's birthday. I also started back at school, working on my MPH, so I guess that is a pretty good excuse.

Tonight I am looking forward to throwing together a dill, feta, and quinoa salad and whipping up some carrot ginger soup (using a recipe from a yogurt company [??], so I have my suspicions about THAT recipe).

As for the mini-farm: we tore everything out but the marigolds, lavender, alyssum, blueberry plant, and some random carrots that the gopher had not eaten yet. We busted up the paths we had established and tossed cover crop over the whole thing (from Territorial Seed). The baby cover crops are already growing like gangbusters, which is why I will need to go water tonight after this odd warm spell we have been having.

We sheet mulched the outer paths (some of them, anyway) and threw down bark, so the path should stay nice all winter. All we have left to do: finish the rest of the outer paths and do something about the mess of uprooted plants! Almost 1/8 of the plot is a giant mountain of everything that we took out. I cannot bare to toss out all the nutrients in that pile! That is straight up fertility I don't want to lose. I am holding out until we have the money to afford the Compost Wizard Junior so I can get some browns and compost that pile! I am sure it is rotting something awful right now, and all sorts of things are probably living in it. Oh, well, better than sending to the trash. And since our plot neighbors have grown nothing but weeds all season, they hardly have any grounds for complaint.

I'm happy that my soil is going to chillax for the winter under its nice warm blankie of rye and vetch and things. G'nite, sweet soil, see you in the spring!

Wednesday: Tomato and bread salad and summer vegetable saute (corn, green beans, and onions) with bread, olive oil, and vinegar.

Thursday: Leftovers, chicken/corn/cilantro salad, marinated zucchini with olives, and tons of watermelon. Later: delicious crenshaw melon.