Breathe Deeply—Is Your Breathing Missing the Most Vital Part?

Breathe deeply and always.”

— simple advice from designer and artist, James Victore

On the surface, that quote could be easily dismissed as pointless. After all, who doesn’t breathe deeply and always?

You have to breathe just to stay alive, right?

To start with… you, me, and almost everyone else do not perform the simple act of breathing as well as we could. To be fair, here are a few exceptions that come to mind…

• Yoga practitioners
• Accomplished meditators
• Competitive swimmers
• Marathoners
• Deep sea divers

See what I mean?

Breathing in general is something most of us do poorly, especially the deeply part. Don’t think so? Even if you’re one of the few of us who’s in great shape— why do you still have to concentrate on breathing when you’re exercising?

Returning this past Sunday from a trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico, I got a dose of breathing reality. With Santa Fe’s elevation at 7,199’, breathing wasn’t always a passive activity. 

To put that in perspective, for everyone else the mean elevation is 2756’. Trust me, it’s accurate… I found it on Quora. And, if you live close to a coast, you’re easily under 500’.

Simply stated, Santa Fe is high enough to have thin air.

Lanette and I both did okay, but not without some huffing and puffing here and there. But, did you know oxygen bars are now a thing in higher altitude locations? Seriously, you can drop in and take a couple of hits of O₂ and voila!—instantly you get your lungs and land legs back. Who knew?

Breathing deeply and always, as James puts it, is one of the simplest actions we can take that instantly provides so many benefits…

• Relaxes mind and body
• Increased concentration
• Improved mood and energy
• Alertness
• Reduced anxiety and stress
• Increased blood flow
• Releases endorphins
• Better posture
• Reduces inflammation
• Improved digestion
• Google it… there’s even more!

Yet we only get breathing half right… claiming to have too many other more urgent tasks. We’re too busy to pause so we can work on the breathing deeply half of the equation. 

Deep breathing only takes a moment.

Just three long, slow, deep breaths relaxes muscles, slows your heart rate, and clears your mind.

Sure, only a little at first, but with practice and consistency, learning to breathe deeply is one of the most beneficial improvements you can make in your life.

Start with one little, but kind of deep breath right now.

Really.

Now.

Do it.

Be untucked.

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Copyright © 2019 Jeff Meister

Post script…

I recently finished reading James Victore’s new book “Feck Perfuction.” The subtitle describes it perfectly… Dangerous Ideas on the Business of Life. It’s packed with truth, insight, a big dose of weirdness, and an unapologetic license to be yourself. What could be more untucked than that?