Pranayama Science + Wisdom | John Douillard's LifeSpa

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The body has two opposing nervous systems that act to either speed up or slow down various functions of the body. How you breathe determines which nervous system is activated.

Startled by a bear, you would likely take a mouth wide open, gasping breath. When under stress, we cry, scream, yell or gasp, and run to save our life. This gasping rush of air through the mouth fills the upper lobes of the lungs where there is a predominance of fight-or-flight emergency stress receptors that activate the sympathetic nervous system.

Think of a baby nursing. Their mouths are closed and they gently breathe through their nose. Nose breathing drives inspired air through the turbinates in the nose that drive the air deeper and more slowly into the lower lobes of the lungs, where there is a predominance of calming and restorative parasympathetic receptors.

Yoga and Ayurveda have used breathing techniques (pranayama) for thousands of years to maintain, restore and balance mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health.

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