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 Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2015 12:09 am
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God's Gift to All Creatures
References to breath or breathing are frequent in the Bible, with many allusions to God as the giver of breath (and life) to man and animals.
One of the best-known verses in the Bible is Genesis 2:7, “And the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living soul.” This verse sets a pattern for the rest of the Bible, where breath is often equated with life itself. In fact, references to breath or breathing are frequent in the Bible, with many allusions to God as the giver of breath (and life) to man and animals.
The respiratory system has many distinctive design features, which show forth the providence of God. Breathing also illustrates our human vulnerability and complete dependence upon God. One easy experiment to show this is to try to hold our breath. For most of us, air hunger becomes painful well within a minute, and we would die in just a few more minutes if completely deprived of air. So, our breathing apparatus is one of our most vital systems—absolutely necessary to sustain us from moment to moment. How does it work?
Designed to breathe
Respiration in humans begins with the nose. Our nasal passages are much more than just a source of discomfort when cold and flu season comes around. They are a high-tech air conditioning and purification system. They filter out the larger dust particles and microbial spores by focusing incoming air onto the mucous membrane lining the nasal cavity. The cells of this lining secrete sticky mucus, where impurities are trapped and disposed of. The nasal passages also provide air warming and humidification, through a rich blood supply just beneath the mucous membrane. (This is why nosebleeds happen fairly easily.) The blood supply also acts as a chemical cleanser of the air, and gives the nose design features in common with modern air-cleaning antipollution devices:
“In an engineer’s terms, the nose is said to function like a scrubbing tower supplied with fresh [cleaning] fluid at successive levels. Despite a fractional-second contact time with the nasal mucosa, the inspired air is efficiently cleared of ozone, sulfur dioxide, and other water-soluble pollutant gases, far better than it is cleared by the oropharynx [by breathing through the mouth].”1
After being warmed up and cleaned, air passes into the main windpipe, or trachea. From there it goes into two large branches, the main bronchi (singular bronchus) where further cleaning, by removal of finer particles, takes place. These progressively branch into increasingly smaller bronchi, with the very small ones being called bronchioli.2 The mucous membrane lining the bronchi also has cells with cilia, tiny whip-like hairs which can beat directionally. These waving hairs move a layer of mucus ever upwards toward the throat, where the layer and its entrapped particles can be swallowed. This air-cleaning system is called (appropriately) the “mucociliary escalator”.
Just before each bronchiolus ends in a tiny air sac called an alveolus, the cells lining it change. Instead of making mucus, they have enzymes to dissolve it, and thus the smallest are kept from being plugged by the protective mucus.
Each alveolus is shaped like a tiny room, with thin surrounding walls, and a doorway coming from a bronchiolus.3 Within the walls (like water pipes in the walls of a house) travel tiny blood vessels, or capillaries. The walls are ultra-thin, and tightly packed with these capillaries, so that gas exchange by simple diffusion can take place. “Used” blood coming into the lungs (from the body’s veins via the heart) has a surplus of carbon dioxide, which is exchanged for oxygen through the alveoli. The oxygenated blood is then returned to the heart for circulation to the rest of the body. The renewed oxygen, in turn, drives the metabolic reactions which give our cells energy (and life).
The specialized cells of the alveoli are fascinating. The lining cells flatten themselves out like pancakes, to make the alveolar walls as thin as possible. In the corners of the alveolar “rooms”, there are cells secreting a soapy substance called surfactant,4 which keeps the moist alveoli from being collapsed by water’s surface tension. Also, there are patrolling white blood cells called macrophages (meaning “big eaters”). These body-defence cells are found in many tissues, but the kind in the lungs are super-specialized.5 Like the alveolar lining cells, they are flattened, but unlike the lining cells, they are mobile. They rove across the alveolar walls like flatfish on the ocean bottom, eating any fine contaminants which have escaped the air cleaners above. When they are “full” they work their way up the mucociliary escalator, to be recycled and replaced. If the macrophages are overwhelmed by an infectious invasion, then white blood cells migrate into the alveoli to help them. Widespread lung infection is called pneumonia.
Terminating toxins
Why the great emphasis on air-cleaning in the respiratory system? For one thing, the warm, wet climate of the alveoli makes them an ideal place for microbes to grow, and the air is full of microbes and their spores. We would all die of pneumonia in a few days without our built-in air-cleaning systems.
Lung Fact File
Did you know?
Your lungs have about 800 million alveolar air sacs (see main text)
It only takes about 1½ seconds for your heart to spread blood over a lung area of half a standard tennis court and then shunt it b
The weight of the total blood circulated through your lungs each day is around 8 tonnes. In an average lifetime, this is double the weight of the giant aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. Yet: the work of breathing at rest only takes some 3–5% of the body’s energy consumption.
Quote: USS Nimitz Aircraft CarrierOverall length: 332.85 m (1,092 ft) Displacement: Approx. 98,556.67 tonnes (97,000 tons) full load Aircraft: 85 Cost: Approx. 4.5 billion US dollars Power source: Two nuclear reactors, four shafts Date deployed: 3 May 1975
To ensure smooth breathing without gasps, the basic nerve impulse controlling it is a “ramp” signal that begins weakly and increases steadily for about two seconds, then stops for three.
Another reason is that otherwise the lungs would soon fill up with inhaled dust. Finally, toxic inhalants need to be cleared out before they can permanently disable the delicate alveolar cells.
The lung damage and death caused by tobacco smoking is a good example of the issues involved. Despite the cleaning mechanisms, some smoke, dust and toxins will reach the alveoli. The lungs and airways can temporarily overcome the injuries of smoking, sometimes for many years. However, various degrees of permanent lung damage will eventually ensue and, while smoking continues, will progress. Such damage can often cause early death.
Human lungs can generally withstand disease for a long time because of the abundance of functional reserve built into them. Studies have shown that people, on average, must lose nearly ¾ of their lung tissue before serious respiratory difficulty develops.
This high degree of functional reserve is also found in most other human body organs (e.g. we can cope with only one kidney). It is in keeping with the providence we should expect of a good and generous God.
Does the respiratory system show any signs of evolution? No, none at all. Evolutionists cannot explain marked differences in respiratory design among the vertebrates. Furthermore, mutations have not been shown to provide any benefit to this system (see panel below).
Breathing is also part of a much larger design—the entire balance of life on Earth. People and animals must consume oxygen to live, giving off carbon dioxide as a waste gas. But plants mostly do the exact opposite. They take in CO2 and give off O2. This provides a constantly renewing balance in the atmosphere, so that the oxygen we need is never used up. It also provides us with a dependable and pleasing environment of greenery, flowers and food.
Could there be an even more important reason why God created our bodies so that we must breathe? Breath is used in the Bible as a powerful symbol of the life-giving presence of God. Like God Himself, the air we breathe is invisible, odourless and tasteless—it cannot be perceived at all unless it moves. It is usually peaceful and still, but it is a reservoir of enormous power. The air is a massive ocean—invisible, yet completely necessary for our life, for we are quickly dead without it. It seems reasonable to suggest that one reason God created the air—and respiration—was to show us graphically how great and immediate is our need for Him.
Eastern mystics teach meditation upon one’s breath as a way of controlling body functions and gaining inner peace. Christians could also benefit from meditating upon breath, but in a different way. They should recognize that the breath of life is a great gift from God, and a powerful biblical metaphor used to speak of His very presence.
Even as we study it scientifically, the knowledge we gain should generate continual thanksgiving, so that we might join the psalmist in praising God along with “everything that has breath” (Psalms 150:6).
Author: Jerry Moore M.D.
Source: https://answersingenesis.org/human-body/the-breath-of-life/
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Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2015 12:13 am
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18 Benefits of Deep Breathing and How to Breathe Deeply?
Breathing correctly is not only important for living longer but also to have a good mood and keep performing at your best. Let us look at the benefits of deep breathing and why you should make it part of your everyday living.
1. Breathing Detoxifies and Releases Toxins
Your body is designed to release 70% of its toxins through breathing. If you are not breathing effectively, you are not properly ridding your body of its toxins i.e. other systems in your body must work overtime which could eventually lead to illness. When you exhale air from your body you release carbon dioxide that has been passed through from your bloodstream into your lungs. Carbon dioxide is a natural waste of your body's metabolism.
2. Breathing Releases Tension
Think how your body feels when you are tense, angry, scared or stressed. It constricts. Your muscles get tight and your breathing becomes shallow. When your breathing is shallow you are not getting the amount of oxygen that your body needs.
3. Breathing Relaxes the Mind/Body and Brings Clarity
Oxygenation of the brain reducing excessive anxiety levels. Paying attention to your breathing. Breathe slowly, deeply and purposefully into your body. Notice any places that are tight and breathe into them. As you relax your body, you may find that the breathing brings clarity and insights to you as well.
4. Breathing Relieves Emotional Problems
Breathing will help clear uneasy feelings out of your body.
5. Breathing Relieves Pain.
You may not realize its connection to how you think, feel and experience life. For example, what happens to your breathing when you anticipate pain? You probably hold your breath. Yet studies show that breathing into your pain helps to ease it.
6. Breathing Massages Your Organs
The movements of the diaphragm during the deep breathing exercise massages the stomach, small intestine, liver and pancreas. The upper movement of the diaphragm also massages the heart. When you inhale air your diaphragm descends and your abdomen will expand. By this action you massage vital organs and improves circulation in them. Controlled breathing also strengthens and tones your abdominal muscles.
7. Breathing Increases Muscle
Breathing is the oxygenation process to all of the cells in your body. With the supply of oxygen to the brain this increases the muscles in your body.
8. Breathing Strengthens the Immune System
Oxygen travels through your bloodstream by attaching to haemoglobin in your red blood cells. This in turn then enriches your body to metabolise nutrients and vitamins.
9. Breathing Improves Posture
Good breathing techniques over a sustained period of time will encourage good posture. Bad body posture will result of incorrect breathing so this is such an important process by getting your posture right from early on you will see great benefits.
10. Breathing Improves Quality of the Blood
Deep breathing removes all the carbon-dioxide and increases oxygen in the blood and thus increases blood quality.
11. Breathing Increases Digestion and
Assimilation of food
The digestive organs such as the stomach receive more oxygen, and hence operates more efficiently. The digestion is further enhanced by the fact that the food is oxygenated more.
12. Breathing Improves the Nervous System
The brain, spinal cord and nerves receive increased oxygenation and are more nourished. This improves the health of the whole body, since the nervous system communicates to all parts of the body.
13. Breathing Strengthen the Lungs
As you breathe deeply the lung become healthy and powerful, a good insurance against respiratory problems.
14. Proper Breathing makes the Heart Stronger.
Breathing exercises reduce the workload on the heart in two ways. Firstly, deep breathing leads to more efficient lungs, which means more oxygen, is brought into contact with blood sent to the lungs by the heart. So, the heart doesn't have to work as hard to deliver oxygen to the tissues. Secondly, deep breathing leads to a greater pressure differential in the lungs, which leads to an increase in the circulation, thus resting the heart a little.
15. Proper Breathing assists in Weight Control.
If you are overweight, the extra oxygen burns up the excess fat more efficiently. If you are underweight, the extra oxygen feeds the starving tissues and glands.
16. Breathing Boosts Energy levels and Improves Stamina
17. Breathing Improves Cellular Regeneration
18. Breathing Elevates Moods
Breathing increase pleasure-inducing neurochemicals in the brain to elevate moods and combat physical pain
How to Breathe properly?
In order to breathe properly you need to breathe deeply into your abdomen not just your chest. Even in the old Greek and Roman times the doctors recommended deep breathing, the voluntary holding of air in the lungs, believing that this exercise cleansed the system of impurities and gave strength. This certainly is of great value to you in your work in the world. Breathing exercises should be deep, slow, rhythmic, and through the nose, not through the mouth. The most important parts of deep breathing has to be regulating your breaths three to four seconds in, and three to four seconds out.
1. Inhale through your nose, expanding your belly, then fill your chest. Counting to 5
2. Hold and Count to 3. Feel all your cells filled with golden, healing, balancing Sun light energy.
3. Exhale fully from slightly parted mouth and Feel all your cells releasing waste and emptying all old energy. Counting to 5.
Schedule your deep breathing exercise just as you would schedule important business appointments. Set aside a minimum of two 10 minute segments of time everyday although you can begin with two five minutes segments if you prefer.
Honouring yourself enough to schedule time with yourself is the first step in mastering stress. Tend your relationship with yourself and your relationship with life and with others will be enriched and deepened accordingly. Remember to share with your children and all your friends and loved ones so that they too can reap its untold benefits.
Source: http://www.onepowerfulword.com/2010/10/18-benefits-of-deep-breathing-and-how.html#sthash.blvkRdqD.dpuf
Source: http://www.doasone.com/Breathing Basics_3.htm
Source: http://www.doasone.com/BreathingRooms.aspx?RoomID=11
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Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2015 12:15 am
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Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 2:23 pm
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Much needed reminder to breathe deeply emotion_sweatdrop and honor the function God gave the nose.
I randomly breathed in deeply through my nose the other night and fell to sleep faster.
Though about honoring oneself and taking in the sun's energy...that tipped me off that that those other sources were New Agey. I don't agree with their methods of getting divine revelation:
DoAsOne.com They met with gurus, breath practitioners, respiratory therapists, doctors, yoga instructors, healers, shamans, religious leaders, monks and alternative medicine experts to get at the core of what the breath
means to the human body, mind and spirit. They even interviewed thousands of diverse people to gauge what the general population knows about breathing in order to help determine what needed to be shared and how best to impart the knowledge. After synthesizing all the information, the founders set forth a grand goal to have one billion people breathe synchronously. On 07/07/07 DoAsOne.com was born, forever changing the way you think about breathing. Do As One is adamant about refining and improving the core of it infrastructure so since launch on 07/07/07, we have had major releases of the website on 08/08/08, 09/09/09 and 10/10/10. Subsequent major releases of DoAsOne.com are scheduled for 11/11/11 and 12/12/12. DoAsOne.com is the online embodiment of the vision, goal, and method of Do As One. People have now come from over 140 countries to breathe on DoAsOne.com. Users have commented that the carefully designed breathing tools have improved their quality of life and enabled them to connect with others around the planet in a unique and exciting way. - See more at: http://www.doasone.com/About_2.htm#sthash.1ul8Czvd.dpuf
Isaiah 8:19 (NIV)
19 When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper
and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the
dead on behalf of the living?
Even if their techniques seem to work, I don't think we're supposed to resort to them.
Exodus 7:11 (NIV)
11 Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian
magicians also did the same things by their secret arts:
Revelation 2:24 (NIV)
24 Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her
teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not
impose any other burden on you,
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Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2015 5:59 pm
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real eyes realize Much needed reminder to breathe deeply emotion_sweatdrop and honor the function God gave the nose. I randomly breathed in deeply through my nose the other night and fell to sleep faster. Though about honoring oneself and taking in the sun's energy...that tipped me off that that those other sources were New Agey. I don't agree with their methods of getting divine revelation: DoAsOne.com They met with gurus, breath practitioners, respiratory therapists, doctors, yoga instructors, healers, shamans, religious leaders, monks and alternative medicine experts to get at the core of what the breath
means to the human body, mind and spirit. They even interviewed thousands of diverse people to gauge what the general population knows about breathing in order to help determine what needed to be shared and how best to impart the knowledge. After synthesizing all the information, the founders set forth a grand goal to have one billion people breathe synchronously. On 07/07/07 DoAsOne.com was born, forever changing the way you think about breathing. Do As One is adamant about refining and improving the core of it infrastructure so since launch on 07/07/07, we have had major releases of the website on 08/08/08, 09/09/09 and 10/10/10. Subsequent major releases of DoAsOne.com are scheduled for 11/11/11 and 12/12/12. DoAsOne.com is the online embodiment of the vision, goal, and method of Do As One. People have now come from over 140 countries to breathe on DoAsOne.com. Users have commented that the carefully designed breathing tools have improved their quality of life and enabled them to connect with others around the planet in a unique and exciting way. - See more at: http://www.doasone.com/About_2.htm#sthash.1ul8Czvd.dpuf Isaiah 8:19 (NIV)
19 When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper
and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the
dead on behalf of the living?
Even if their techniques seem to work, I don't think we're supposed to resort to them. Exodus 7:11 (NIV)
11 Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian
magicians also did the same things by their secret arts:
Revelation 2:24 (NIV)
24 Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her
teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not
impose any other burden on you,
Oh, good catch on those last two sources! Didn't even catch it myself, but I think it is a good topic to brush up on. Apologize for not catching that sweatdrop You can see how entrenched the New Age stuff has become. It's everywhere and sometimes easily looked over. Thank you for pointing it out! ^^
I still think practicing breathing exercises has many of the good benefits above. When I was is nursing school, we had to learn proper breathing techniques... Abdominal breathing, to productive cough, and for calming panic attacks. Even myself, I suffer from hyperventilation from panic attacks if I don't catch it and begin breathing measured and slow breaths.
While I should have been a little more careful with the second article I chose, I think it's important to shed light on these things. Like you pointed out:
Quote: 1. Inhale through your nose, expanding your belly, then fill your chest. Counting to 5 2. Hold and Count to 3. Feel all your cells filled with golden, healing, balancing Sun light energy. 3. Exhale fully from slightly parted mouth and Feel all your cells releasing waste and emptying all old energy. Counting to 5.
I completely agree with you that we should not think about honoring ourselves.
"Why is pride so sinful? Pride is giving ourselves the credit for something that God has accomplished. Pride is taking the glory that belongs to God alone and keeping it for ourselves. Pride is essentially self-worship. Anything we accomplish in this world would not have been possible were it not for God enabling and sustaining us. “What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” (1 Corinthians 4:7). That is why we give God the glory—He alone deserves it.
Source: http://www.gotquestions.org/pride-Bible.html#ixzz3Uh513Vcv"
And of course, the idolatry associated with eastern mysticism.
Instead, you gave a good example of giving thanks to God, that we have the ability to breathe.
I think proper breathing exercises are still important. Just ... without the New Age techniques (which I totally skimmed over). The bottom of the first post:
Quote: Eastern mystics teach meditation upon one’s breath as a way of e controlling body functions and gaining inner peace. Christians could also benefit from meditating upon breath, but in a different way. They should recognize that the breath of life is a great gift from God, and a powerful biblical metaphor used to speak of His very presence.Even as we study it scientifically, the knowledge we gain should generate continual thanksgiving, so that we might join the psalmist in praising God along with “everything that has breath” (Psalms 150:6).
I wondered about this and don't know why, but I was compelled to look up 'Christian Meditation'.
What is Christian Meditation?"
Christian Meditation
I honestly didn't even know it existed.
Adding this article for my own consideration, too:
Dangerous Meditation - Christianity Today |
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Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 3:08 am
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Arachnoia real eyes realize Much needed reminder to breathe deeply emotion_sweatdrop and honor the function God gave the nose. I randomly breathed in deeply through my nose the other night and fell to sleep faster. Though about honoring oneself and taking in the sun's energy...that tipped me off that that those other sources were New Agey. I don't agree with their methods of getting divine revelation: DoAsOne.com They met with gurus, breath practitioners, respiratory therapists, doctors, yoga instructors, healers, shamans, religious leaders, monks and alternative medicine experts to get at the core of what the breath
means to the human body, mind and spirit. They even interviewed thousands of diverse people to gauge what the general population knows about breathing in order to help determine what needed to be shared and how best to impart the knowledge. After synthesizing all the information, the founders set forth a grand goal to have one billion people breathe synchronously. On 07/07/07 DoAsOne.com was born, forever changing the way you think about breathing. Do As One is adamant about refining and improving the core of it infrastructure so since launch on 07/07/07, we have had major releases of the website on 08/08/08, 09/09/09 and 10/10/10. Subsequent major releases of DoAsOne.com are scheduled for 11/11/11 and 12/12/12. DoAsOne.com is the online embodiment of the vision, goal, and method of Do As One. People have now come from over 140 countries to breathe on DoAsOne.com. Users have commented that the carefully designed breathing tools have improved their quality of life and enabled them to connect with others around the planet in a unique and exciting way. - See more at: http://www.doasone.com/About_2.htm#sthash.1ul8Czvd.dpuf Isaiah 8:19 (NIV)
19 When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper
and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the
dead on behalf of the living?
Even if their techniques seem to work, I don't think we're supposed to resort to them. Exodus 7:11 (NIV)
11 Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian
magicians also did the same things by their secret arts:
Revelation 2:24 (NIV)
24 Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her
teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not
impose any other burden on you,
Oh, good catch on those last two sources! Didn't even catch it myself, but I think it is a good topic to brush up on. Apologize for not catching that sweatdrop You can see how entrenched the New Age stuff has become. It's everywhere and sometimes easily looked over. Thank you for pointing it out! ^^ I still think practicing breathing exercises has many of the good benefits above. When I was is nursing school, we had to learn proper breathing techniques... Abdominal breathing, to productive cough, and for calming panic attacks. Even myself, I suffer from hyperventilation from panic attacks if I don't catch it and begin breathing measured and slow breaths. While I should have been a little more careful with the second article I chose, I think it's important to shed light on these things. Like you pointed out: Quote: 1. Inhale through your nose, expanding your belly, then fill your chest. Counting to 5 2. Hold and Count to 3. Feel all your cells filled with golden, healing, balancing Sun light energy. 3. Exhale fully from slightly parted mouth and Feel all your cells releasing waste and emptying all old energy. Counting to 5. I completely agree with you that we should not think about honoring ourselves. "Why is pride so sinful? Pride is giving ourselves the credit for something that God has accomplished. Pride is taking the glory that belongs to God alone and keeping it for ourselves. Pride is essentially self-worship. Anything we accomplish in this world would not have been possible were it not for God enabling and sustaining us. “What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” (1 Corinthians 4:7). That is why we give God the glory—He alone deserves it. Source: http://www.gotquestions.org/pride-Bible.html#ixzz3Uh513Vcv" And of course, the idolatry associated with eastern mysticism. Instead, you gave a good example of giving thanks to God, that we have the ability to breathe. I think proper breathing exercises are still important. Just ... without the New Age techniques (which I totally skimmed over). The bottom of the first post: Quote: Eastern mystics teach meditation upon one’s breath as a way of e controlling body functions and gaining inner peace. Christians could also benefit from meditating upon breath, but in a different way. They should recognize that the breath of life is a great gift from God, and a powerful biblical metaphor used to speak of His very presence.Even as we study it scientifically, the knowledge we gain should generate continual thanksgiving, so that we might join the psalmist in praising God along with “everything that has breath” (Psalms 150:6). I wondered about this and don't know why, but I was compelled to look up 'Christian Meditation'. What is Christian Meditation?"Christian MeditationI honestly didn't even know it existed. Adding this article for my own consideration, too: Dangerous Meditation - Christianity Today
I agree with gotquestions.org and their definition of Christian meditation.
Once we start borrowing "techniques" from other religions to communicate or reach God we are going beyond our mandate. Not only that, we are often by doing so unknowingly involving ourselves in pagan worship. |
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