Unlock the Power of Belly Breathing: Breathe Like a Baby.

As a young mother gazes blissfully at her baby fast-asleep in a cot, she might notice that as it sleeps, its belly rises and falls in a gentle rolling motion. But with her mind centred on the joy of her newborn, the thought of why the baby is ‘belly breathing’ will never cross her mind.

Nobody taught it to breathe in this manner, it’s just its nature to be that way. But peacefully asleep in a form of calm meditation that we adults have long forgotten, does this have a reason? Is it something important that we should all know about?

The fact is that without any coaching or teaching, that’s the way the baby breathes. It might be a form of transcendental meditation for beginners, chakra meditation, or zen meditation that it was born with? The problem is that the baby can’t tell us what it’s up to. We would have to go back to the womb to find out what this abdominal breathing is all about. But let us try to offer an explanation.

As we grow up, we get into bad habits. We become stressed with life, and without thinking we breathe into the chest rather than into the belly. So, to remind us all of what we did as infants, we would like to introduce you to a breathing treatment, or meditation for beginners – Qigong (or chi gong as we have seen some write it).

Some customers will remember John & Yoko, and their love of transcendental meditation. Others have found their way to yin yoga, hatha yoga, sofa yoga (yes there is such a thing), and nidra yoga. Yoga and qigong are similar. Both are ancient mind–body practices used in the East for thousands of years to promote inner peace and mental clarity.

Both share breathing techniques and slow movements, and are being used as alternative/complementary approaches to the management of disease, especially chronic problems with no effective conventional treatments.

Both aim to improve your body health, but we reckon that Qigong is best. It is simple to learn. It’s forgiving. It will help your body to relax – and it has undoubted benefits for the skin.

Clear skin: One of the first things we notice about Qigong instructors is their clear complexion and soft, almost baby-like skin. Qigong causes Qi (pronounced chee) to flow both deep and within the body; and under the skin. This keeps the skin moist, resilient, and resistant to abrasion and injury; and it emanates from belly-breathing.

So, how do we achieve such lovely skin? Is it by using the very best organic skincare lotion? Well, yes to that if you are using skincare that’s free of nasty chemicals; such as you will find at Essence of Egypt. Eating clean, healthy food helps, but nothing processed, please. No sugar – not in anything. And, of course keep the rhythm when breathing – 5 to 6 breathes per minute.

What part does abdominal breathing have to play? Qigong is the Chinese word for life energy, where Qi is the animating power that flows through all living things. Good skin health implies that the Qi in our bodies is clear, rather than polluted and turbid; and flowing smoothly, rather than blocked or stagnant.

Lungs and skin are the organs of content between our bodies and the external world. In the respiration processes the lungs absorb and admit fresh Qi from the air. Skin absorbs radiant Chi from the three luminaries, the sun, moon and stars, and environmental Chi from nature. It emits toxins in the form sweat and invisible, bad Qi in our breath. The lungs and skin have an internal relationship within the internal organisms of our breathing apparatus – and all are connected to it. This is where healthy, deep and long breaths create healthy skin. Conversely, unnatural breathing such as panic-breathing and stressful breathing with hyperventilation, creates the conditions for developing skin disease.

So, what can we do to help our breathing and our skin? Practicing controlled breathing, takes you into a world of gentle movements; all of which, have been shown to help lower stress and symptoms of anxiety. Calm, controlled breathing tells your body there’s no immediate threat and activates the parasympathetic nervous system – the “rest and digest” system where the diaphragm – a muscle located below the lungs – plays a vital role as the main muscle used in infant breathing.

In adults, abdominal breathing massages the digestive organs. As the diaphragm drops and rises, the muscles involved in peristalsis (the pushing of the food toward the stomach) are stimulated. The body relaxes; the heart beats more slowly and regularly; the mind becomes quiet.

On the other hand, high levels of stress in our society create a tendency to breathe rapidly and shallowly by opening and closing the chest, whereas the practice of Qigong emphasises a more efficient way of breathing using the abdomen.

Breathe easy. Please don’t have the unconscious tendency to push out the breath, because in essence you are trying to control our innate process that is already controlled gracefully and beautifully for you. Stay in the body’s natural rhythm. By doing this, sleep becomes more restful and refreshing, and our skin health improves.

Namaste.

Learn how Essence of Egypt can Transform your Skin. https://eoegp.com