The more I research breathing, the more I am amazed at what I find.  Yoga has been around for centuries.  The predecessors of Yoga developed many techniques for breathing to improve their health.  Today, for the vast majority of us, our normal breathing processes use a very small fraction of our total potential.  Moreover, it can negatively affect your health in the long run.

You, and almost everyone else you know, perceive that you breathe through both your nostrils when your mouth is closed.  It seems that way – what is keeping one nostril from participating in half the incoming breath?  Assuming open nostril passages, your body actually alternates breathing between your left and right nostril.  For healthy people, your body switches nostrils for breathing approximately every two hours (actually, slightly less).  The alternation of incoming air through your left and right nostrils cleanses the body – purifies it – and rejuvenates your life’s energy. 

If you are not healthy, your body defaults to breathing through only one nostril.  That can create problems.  You will experience chronic fatigue and impaired mental capability if you breathe continuously through your left nostril.  Breathing continuously through your right nostril usually results in nervousness and anxiety.  You are essentially overloading one side of your brain rather than keeping it in equilibrium.

The right side of your brain is usually associated with your creative ability, while the left side of your brain correlates to logic and verbal aptitude.  It has been shown through testing that electrical activity in your brain is greater on the side of your brain opposite the constricted nostril.  Long-term physical problems have been associated with single nostril breathing.  It is believed that asthma results from breathing only through your right nostril.  Likewise, diabetes can result from long-term left nostril breathing.

There are simple exercises that you can do to optimize your breathing through each of your nostrils.  Perform an alternate nostril breathing exercise to reestablish a normal rhythm. 

• Place your finger or thumb over your right nostril and breathe in slowly through your left nostril for a count of four seconds
  
• Before exhaling, close your left nostril with your thumb or finger and remove your finger or thumb from your right nostril
  
• Exhale slowly for eight seconds through your right nostril
  
• Inhale for four seconds through your right nostril with your left nostril still blocked
  
• Block your right nostril, unblock your left nostril, and exhale for a count of eight seconds
  

Repeat this cycle for three iterations.  This is considered by some to be the best breathing exercise to calm your mind.  This exercise is best done on an empty stomach.

Before you start this exercise, you should be aware of some constraints. 

•        Don’t over-exercise. 
  
•        Start with two or three exercise rounds a day and add one exercise round until you get to seven rounds in one day. 
  
•        Don’t do this exercise if you have a cold. 
  
•        Don’t do this exercise if your nasal passages are clogged. 
  
•        Don’t force alternate nostril breathing – it could lead to problems. 
  
•        Never force anything in any breathing exercise.  If you have high blood pressure, don’t hold your breath for long periods of time (try three or four seconds instead of eight seconds). 
  
•        These exercises should be done silently – you should barely hear yourself breathe.
  

You can use your left nostril only breathing for a calming effect.  Likewise, you can use your right nostril only for instant energy.  Dedicated short-term single nostril breathing can be used when needed for a specific objective (relaxing, driving, etc.) 

If you periodically practice alternate nostril breathing exercises, you can expect many health benefits –

• Revitalizing energy  
  
• Improving clarity in your brain function (try this before an exam or interview)
  
• Cleansing and purifying your lungs (70% of your body waste is eliminated from your lungs)
  
• Calming your entire body (regulating your breathing controls your mind, which controls your body functions)
  
• Merging your thinking brain with your feeling brain (allows you access to your total brain function)
  
• Stabilizing your long-term thinking capacity
  
• Controlling your emotions
  
• Improving and relaxing your sleep patterns (and may reduce or eliminate insomnia – and there are some specific breathing exercise to eliminate insomnia if alternate breathing does not work for you – check Google)
  
• Meditating more quickly and deeply, (if you are inclined to periodic meditation)
  
• Stabilizing your body temperature (one nostril heats your up and the other cools you down), and
  
• Preventing and eliminating sluggishness

Your Prosperity Professor, Red O’Laughlin

Copyright 2010 by MRO Global, LLC

Reprint rights granted with link to original post