A Breath of Fresh Air...Taking a Breather

Fresh Air...and other things we took for granted before the arrival of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2....not now...perhaps never again, at least no time soon. Among other things we've grown accustomed to, like direct human contact, freedom of movement, sufficient supply of TP, and...OXYGEN! Yes, it's all around us, apparently in abundant supply, free, and readily available...until it's NOT. Whether you read accounts of health care workers having to don space suits with a special breathing apparatus, utilizing ventilators to assist a patient with COVID who could not breathe on their own, or having your own breathing at least slightly obstructed by mask wearing, we have all become more aware of just how fragile we are when it comes to having sufficient oxygen, fresh/clean air to breathe. 

A Breather: What I hope this blog has provided -- whether I have written to you and managed to prod you outside into the fresh air (several), persuaded you to take a Calgon virtual moment (September 26th), to breathe easy in a tub of suds or... even in a tub of ice where you practice the special breathing techniques of Wim Hof (October 14th)...or the benefits of both aerobic (that designed to improve efficiency of body's ability to absorb and transport oxygen) and anaerobic (which breaks down glucose without using oxygen, such as those that are short in length but high in intensity) conditioning in overall fitness, especially critical to pulmonary fitness during as well as after the pandemic...

Breathe Often, Deep: That is, quantity as well as quality of air...a sufficient air supply as well as 'good air'. We were witness to some gruesome examples throughout the past year of running out of air -- ranging from hospital ICU's, to the Indonesian submarine, to India's plea for more oxygen, among so many others you all can offer here. Then there's the issue of air quality. Which has, of course, been a subject of persistent attention here and elsewhere, everywhere people depend on breathing, ever since the topic of "air pollution" became an ongoing area of scientific, practical, and economic study. We have the EPA among other watchdogs keeping tabs on this and those most likely to put stuff into the air our bodies (and other living things) find noxious. Then there's stuff in the atmosphere around us, the ambient air, that some among us, who are considered 'olfactory sensitive' simply find obnoxious ("Ewww, what smells?!"). During the time of COVID we have been more acutely aware of how viruses are transmitted through the air, emitted by people--people like you and like me (thanks for wearing a mask!), through liquid particles that are different sizes, ranging from larger respiratory droplets to smaller aerosols. 'Naturally', we as a society have diminished our use of aerosols at large over the last several years, due to the demonstrated adverse effects on the earth's atmosphere and our own 'passive' intake...

In, OUT!  While most of us, most of the time, find breathing an almost automatic ("autonomic" actually) function, like taking that deep breath upon request by our physician (well, more like three to five..."just one more..."), how often do you reflect on the 'art' and science of breathing OUT? Various athletes, swimmers for example, understand this. As stated by one veteran swim coach, "...very few novice swimmers exhale effectively and nearly all intermediate swimmers think they are exhaling correctly...here is a fact...when swimming you never have to think about the inhale...what you do have to think about is the exhale...insufficient exhaling essentially results in excessive CO2 buildup, which (paradoxically) makes the (inexperienced) breathe harder and faster rather than simply exhaling (preferably through our nose in the water, make good bubbles so our swim instructor can see and gesture "thumbs up"!).

Hold your nose, close your mouth, nose job (?): Depending on what expert you talk to, what exercise you are challenging your body, your pulmonary, respiratory system, there's preferred methods. In addition to swim coaches, otolaryngologists (only good spellers can enter this profession, specializing in "head and neck surgery", thankfully and otherwise known as "ENT's" to the rest of us) generally agree that the "...body's first choice for respiration is through the nose, but when air cannot freely pass through your nose, your body resorts to the mouth to receive oxygen...the nose is the key...produces nitric oxides which improves your lungs' ability to absorb oxygen...it filters out pathogens...as you inhale through your nose it adjusts temperature...it stimulates your vagus nerve (which stretches from your brain stem all the way to your...abs!)...stimulating the vagus nerve can help lower bp, enhance well-being, may boost your memory...Whereas mouth breathing is associated with sleep apnea, a common sleep disorder that can lead to diurnal fatigue, even narcolepsy...more trips to the dentist...BUT mouth breathing does, as both swim coaches, ENT's and other breathing experts acknowledge, let you "...exchange air faster when needed..." Yes, those occasions where you have to run faster, more intense -- "...the higher the amount of oxygen that travels through your body, the better your body will perform while sprinting..." In which case, "...this is best achieved by using your belly (!), rather than just your lungs while running fast, intense intervals..." BTW, holding your nose, as well as keeping your mouth closed at the same time is a good way to not take water in while doing a cannon ball...OK, so there's a lot of moving parts as well as many different ways to bring oxygen in as well as to exhale...That is, there's an entire...

Panorama of breathing...Pranayama (Ommm): While the correct or preferred method of breathing may be a key to a whole range of performances, there's also  the topic of yoga breathing, as reflected by the art and science of pranayama: a Sanskrit word to describe yoga breathing exercises that have the ability to quickly increase our energy...which goes a step farther than simple awareness of the breath, but uses specific rhythms and techniques to bring us a whole (panorama) of benefits on the mental, emotional, and physical levels (if I could only learn to cross my legs that way, I'd be all set)...rhythms that once again focus in part on the correct way to exhale, methodologies that at times emit strange sounds, sounds like "HAAAAAAs" (make sure you have six A's), some that are noisier and more peculiar to the novice than others, ranging from "...lion's breath, breath of fire, and bee breath..." but all of which are diaphragmatic in their 'essence'...

Breathe easy, breathe often...in sync, how Grande, how Sweet: especially after a period of time in which we have witnessed oxygen deprivation, and have had our breathing encumbered by masks (let alone the PPE's that life saving professionals have had to wear for extended hours), being able to enjoy a breath of fresh air and to be around others who are breathing easy, breathing so easy we can hardly hear ourselves or others enjoying this autonomic activity that we heretofore took for granted, is like...music to our ears, from:

𝆕"Every breath you take...I'll be watching you..." written by Sting, performed by the Police on their 1983 album, "Synchronicity"...to:

𝅘𝅥𝅰"...Just keep breathin' and breathin' and breathin'...I gotta keep, keep breathing..." From Ariana Grande's fourth studio album "Sweetener", released on 9-18-18, a song with personal meaning (for all of us, come to think of it), about the anxiety the singer is suffering and how a special person comes to her assistance, who helps her keep on breathin' (and breathing), despite the intense fears and worries brought on by her anxiety...