Why You Should Never Hold Your Breath: Part I

Deep breathing does more than take weight off of your mind—it also gives your organs a massage. Literally.

Practicing a deep belly breath provides a supportive foundation for a properly functioning digestive system.

Your largest diaphragm of the five diaphragms in your body is a thin, dome-shaped layer of muscle and tendon that separates your abdominal cavity from your chest cavity. The proper contraction and expansion of your largest diaphragm effectively massages your small intestine, stomach, liver, and pancreas when you breathe into your lower lungs, encouraging the proper digestion of food.

The average person retains about ten pounds of impacted waste in their colon—exacerbating the cyclical problem by blocking the absorption of new and needed nutrients. Breathing deeply encourages peristalsis—the normal, rhythmic muscular action of the intestine that pushes food down and outward—and also fully oxygenates your blood, which in turn allows nutrients and vitamins to be absorbed more efficiently. Proper diaphragmatic breathing aids your body in eliminating waste and allows your digestive system to be more effective with new nutrient absorption.

Get FREE Access!

We are on a mission to change your life by providing you with curated science-backed health tips, nutrition advices and mouth-watering recipes. Sign up to receive your 3 starter gifts and get exclusive access to new weekly content for FREE:

Free eBook

to boost metabolism

4 Shopping Guides

for every diet

22 Free Recipes

to beat sugar addiction

Subscribe now

subscribe

Slow, deep breaths help activate the parasympathetic nervous system—the state that allows your body to recuperate and regenerate or “rest and digest”—the only state when your body can digest food efficiently.

The proper digestion of your fuel is critical to avoiding and preventing inflammation—a synergist of weight gain and innumerable autoimmune diseases. In fact, nearly 70% of Americans struggle with obesity and 20% live with autoimmune diseases.

Upward of 80 percent of our immune system is located inside our gastrointestinal tract.

Food sensitivities are a major cause of an immune system imbalance and a direct consequence of improperly digested foods, effecting an estimated 15 million Americans. Undigested foods, particularly proteins, are often mistaken as viruses and bacteria by our immune system and attacked accordingly. This is present in cases of anaphylactic shock to nuts or shellfish. In less dramatic cases, but not necessarily less life threatening, food sensitivities are represented by inflammatory diseases, allergies, bloating, eczema, fatigue, fever, general malaise, mood swings, migraines, and nervousness. Improperly digested food allows our immune system to wage war on itself.

Take Home Message:

You can help prevent the occurrence of autoimmune, obesity and other digestion-related diseases by simply improving your breathing! Stay tuned for the next blog post when we will reveal a useful technique on how to practice deep breathing.

To learn more mindfulness tips, join ZONIA video streaming platform where you can find hundreds of videos, storytelling and guided audios for meditation, breathing and simply relaxation.

We created ZONIA because we believe that everyone deserves to be empowered with the education and tools to be healthy and happy. Zonia's original videos and personalized transformation programs by our health & wellness experts will help you achieve this mission. Click on the button below to get started today:

start my 7 day free membership