Where is your breath?

They say when you're pregnant it gets harder to breathe as time goes on and the baby gets bigger and pushes on your lungs. I found this a true statement, but not all the time in my case. It was mostly when I was sitting on the couch or in certain positions sleeping (especially if Nick was snuggled with me with his arm over me). I went to yoga classes during my pregnancy so I kept up with a pranayama practice of some sort. For those of you reading who may not know what pranayama is, it's the act of breathing. Prana means life force and yama means control. So, basically in a yoga practice, pranayama means to control the life force which ultimately is your breath. Think about it; if you're not breathing you're not living.

About two days ago I sat down to meditate and started doing Dirgha Pranayama...the "Complete Breath". I was noticing as I got to the third part of the breath, where you feel your collar bone rise, I couldn't really take in any more air (crazy because I remember breathing in so much more before!). It was almost as if my lungs were in a panic to take in more air, but they were already pretty full. It was a strange sensation. I kept practicing. I'm not sure how much better it got, but I know it will. I used to be able to inhale what seemed like massive amounts of oxygen. Of course I now realize the saying that people only use a small percentage of their lungs when they breath is true. Fact of the matter is, for 3-4 months my lungs shared their space with the precious baby I had growing inside and I couldn't have inhaled like I was before. What I didn't realize is just how much of my lungs were compromised. For a few seconds I was pretty sad I couldn't inhale what to me used to be a full breath. I really enjoy Dirgha Pranayama and all it's benefits. It's is very calming for me and can soothe any ones nerves...try it. It's also a good breath for me when I'm meditating because I'm focused on the breath and not the thoughts in my mind. This last time I did it though, I was not thinking about the three parts of the breath I was thinking about how much I couldn't breath :(

My experience shows just how much we take our lungs for granted. These precious organs are so large they take up most of the chest cavity. In fact lungs are so over sized, a good portion of the lung is not used as mentioned above. Because they are over sized  some smokers have no notice of the decrease in lung function while they are still or moving slowly. Only a small part of their lungs are being used. Also, because the lungs have such a large capacity it is possible for a human to live with only one. Isn't that nuts!?! The two lungs within your chest may seem identical but they are not. The lung on the left side of your chest is smaller allowing space for that other precious organ in your body...your heart.

We breath on a daily basis without thinking about it. Did you know you breath in and out 15-25 times per minute without even thinking about it?

Bring awareness to your breath today and don't take these precious lungs for granted. If you're smiling on the inside, you're smiling on the outside :)