Your Longevity Breath
According
to the June 4, 2014 CNN news, “It is Her Majesty’s custom to send a personal
greeting to her subjects on their 100th birthdays. These days the Queen of
England has a lot more letters to write.
That's
because a record number of people are living to 100 and beyond in the United Kingdom UK United States
To
live to 100 years, genes play a pivotal part. Other than that, lifestyle also
accounts for the capability to extend lifespan. But the most important factor
that many of us are unaware of is our breath—the longevity breath.
Why
is breathing so important? It is because without breath, we die in minutes.
Sadly, many of us are unaware of this because breathing is so natural, so
spontaneous that we simply take it for granted.
Breath
is the gift of life. Once we become aware of our breath, we will become aware
of many other things in life, such as our heath, our diet, our thinking, we
will begin to make changes in our lives, such as giving up smoking and
drinking. But to make lifestyle changes is easier said than done because we are
living in a toxic environment that contaminates the body and the mind. Every
day we are bombarded with hypes by the multi-media and modern technology; they
become toxic thoughts in our minds. We become controlled by them, such that our
thinking minds have become dysfunctional. Unfortunately, what we think become
our realities, just as the French philosopher Descartes’ famous
statement: “I think; therefore, I am.” The thinking mind is important because
it controls not only how we think, but also how we make our everyday decisions
that have a long-term impact on our health, and hence our longevity.
But
how is breath related to the thinking mind?
First
of all, correct breathing is critical to our health. Babies breathe naturally.
But as we grow up, our breaths change for the worse, not the better. Correct
breathing affects your posture, which also
affects your physique, including your physical health. Correct breathing means
you breathe in sufficient oxygen and breathe out as much as possible all the
toxic fumes and carbon dioxide from your body. Breathing is a natural
rejuvenation and detoxification process. Unfortunately, most of us have
incomplete or compromised breathing, leading to shortness of breath and
accumulation of toxins inside the body. To have correct breathing (which means
the breathing out should be longer than the breathing in) and complete breath
(which means we use our diaphragm—the muscle between the lungs and the tummy—to
push air and fill up the upper lungs), we must be aware of our
breath—the longevity breath.
Awareness
of breath also implies quieting the mind. A quiet mind—when you are totally
aware of how your breathe in and breathe out, how the air goes in and out of
your nostrils, how your diaphragm muscles move up and down—momentarily stops
your compulsive mind from thinking. In other words, a quiet mind trains your
thoughts-- according to St. Theresa of Avila, the mind is like an
unbridled horse wandering where it wlll, and your role is to train your horse,
and gently bring it back to the right course. Awareness of breath does just that:
letting your mind separate the truths from the half-truths or the myths.
Be
aware of your breath and you will live longer.
Younger and Healthier for Longer
provides
you with the blueprint for longevity living for both men and women.
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by by Stephen Lau
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