Breathing is absolutely essential to life, but its necessity for good health is often overlooked. Deep conscious breathing is one of the most powerful keys to enhancing physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

We breath all the time, automatically, taking about 25,000 breaths day. We humans can live for weeks without food, days without water and just minutes without air. Air is the very essence of life.

Breathing is Essential to Life

Breathing is very important for health and wellness because it is essential for life. Without oxygen, our body starts to die in minutes. Organs deprived of oxygen carried in the blood flow eventually start to dysfunction or get diseased. Our bodies use chemical and mechanical processes to bring oxygen to every cell of the body and to get rid of toxins. To obtain energy to fuel all our living processes our body needs oxygen.

The Respiratory System

The main function of the respiratory system is the exchange of oxygen from the atmosphere for carbon dioxide produced by the cells of the body.  The respiratory system, which includes air passages, pulmonary vessels, the lungs, and breathing muscles, aids the body in the exchange of gases between the air and blood, and between the blood and the body’s billions of cells. Other functions of the respiratory system include aiding in the acid-base balance of the body, phonation, pulmonary defense, and metabolism.

Our cells constantly need a new supply of oxygen so they can produce energy. Without this cellular function is impaired, and damage or cell death is possible. Proper breathing allows the body to send oxygen flooding into every single cell in your body. The air, taken into your lungs, is taken to every single cell in your body via your circulation system. Every cell in your body draws from the oxygen and expels waste. we then exhale this as carbon dioxide – a process called respiration.

Breathing is Essential to LifeThe five primary functions of the respiratory system are:

Our Lungs

Your lungs are organs in your chest that allow your body to take in oxygen from the air. They then help remove toxic waste gas, carbon dioxide, from your body. The intake of oxygen and removal of carbon dioxide by the lungs is referred to as a gas exchange. The nose regulates the inhaled air by adding moisture and warming or cooling it before entry to the lungs.

The exhale is just as important as the inhale. Only when you exhale properly and fully can you breathe out all the toxins, as carbon dioxide, and allow fresh oxygen to flood back in. Using the lower lobes of your lungs is very important.

The respiratory system is made up of more than just the lungs; it also includes your nose, throat, larynx, windpipe, bronchi, alveolar ducts, and respiratory membrane. The function of the respiratory system is to deliver air to the lungs.

Sometimes you can have mild breathing problems because of a stuffy nose or excessive exercise. Shortness of breath can also result from or indicate serious disease. Heart disease, for example, can make you feel breathless, as a result of your heart not pumping enough blood to supply oxygen to your body. Anxiety and panic attacks too often result in shortness of breath.