Breath is Medicine

You’ve been doing it since you were born.
Nobody taught you how.
You do it when you’re asleep.
When you’re awake.
If you didn’t do it for too long, you’d die.

And yet, how often do you think about your breath?

Most of us forget about it most of the time.

With good reason: breathing happens on its own.

Except when it doesn’t.

I once noticed that I tended to hold my breath whenever I checked email.

Apparently that’s a thing.

Former Microsoft tech researcher Linda Stone coined the term email apnea in 2007. It refers to the “temporary absence or suspension of breathing, or shallow breathing, while doing email.”

And apparently 80% of us do it.

When we hold our breath we activate the body’s fight-or-flight system, putting ourselves into stress response.

The best remedy for so much of what ails us is free, natural, and something we already know how to do.

Breath is crucial for pain management, ease of movement, and clearing stuck emotions and energy.

It is the best way to combat feelings of anxiety, mental tension, headaches and a host of other issues that plague us.

The next time you find yourself spinning, stop to check if you’re breathing.

Remember that you have the medicine you need:

Breathe.

breath is medicine
soothing pain easing movement
nourishing the soul