Perfect Breathing

We're continually fascinated by the emergence of new devices that are related to breath and breathing. One that just crossed our path was developed in Europe by a company called Anaxsys Technolgoy, and claims to detect a heart attack up to 45 minutes before it occurs in a hospital patient. It's based on on the simple principle of measuring water in a patient's breath.

A while back I heard a funny and yet disturbing term – "Email Apnea". This term was coined by Linda Stone a few years ago after she noticed that she held her breath while opening emails. She also noticed that nearly everyone else that she observed was doing the same thing.

Just finished reading an article by Melissa Kirsch at the Huffington Post called Meditation at Work: Breathing Lessons, and it reminded me once again the importance of paying attention to how you breath on the job. It's easy for us all to get stressed out with our work and career demands. We have to constantly be creative, produce, execute, handle problems, deal with people both one-on-one and in small and large groups, and generally be "on" for long stretches of time.

A new study from the University of Pittsburgh has found an important link between anger and anxiety and an inflammation marker that can be an indicator of future chronic health problems.

I found myself on a massage table recently (I know, tough duty), face down and ready for some bodywork. I once again realized I had forgotten a key massage ingredient - eucalyptus oil.
 
I am cursed with sinuses that tend to fill up quickly when I lay face down. Not sure if this is a common problem, but it can quickly convert a relaxing massage into a fight for breath. I like to work with my massage therapist using deep-breathing techniques, for maximum benefit. When my sinuses are clogged, I derive less from the experience.
 
I have found, thanks to a sympathetic massage therapist a while back, that a tiny bit of eucalyptus oil, available at many health food stores, or other essential aromatic oils such as peppermint can help dramatically in such situations.

After seeing at least 10 articles in the past couple of weeks regarding record levels of student stress, I though it was about time to revisit this topic. I’m not sure what happened in 1985 – perhaps that is when we started paying attention – but student stress has continued to rise every year since then. It is clearly time to get serious about teaching children how to deal more effectively with stress.

Interesting new research has emerged about the importance of the lowly sigh. We all do it, and for a variety of reasons. In a story on the website MedIndia - Network for Health, sighing actually increases the flexibility of the human breathing system.
 
The article explains, "Scientists have found that sighing resets breathing patterns that are getting out of whack and keep our respiratory system flexible."

After reading last week’s post “How to Battle Colds and Flu” some of you may be asking “Does it really work?” Is it just positive (read that “wishful”) thinking? Perhaps the placebo response?

Well it wasn’t too long ago that we could only answer that question with loads of personal anecdotal stories of our own, along with the thousands of years of other people’s stories. But that is changing rapidly.

Seems like over 50 percent of the people I know around here are sick with The Crud. You know the one -- sore throat, sneezing, congestion, lethargy, low-grade fever, loss of appetite. It runs rampant this time of year. And we all know the advice: The Crud is generally viral, not bacterial, so no need for antibiotics. Wash your hands frequently. Stay home when you're the most contagious. Get plenty of rest and drink plenty of fluids. It will eventually run its course.
 

We all know laughter is good for us, but a strong tie has been made between laughter and breathing. From the Philippine Star comes a story on Laughing and Stress Relief.