It’s…deep! On a more serious note, deep breathing raises levels of oxygen in our blood. This helps in stimulating the digestive process, improving fitness and even over-all mental performance. International health icon, Dr. Andrew Weil says: “If I had to limit my advice on healthier living to just one tip, it would be simply to learn how to breathe correctly.”
Here’s how:
• Exhale slowly so that you activate your ‘relaxation response’ which calms your mind and relaxes tensed muscles.
• Engage every part of your body when you breathe. Feel your breath fill your belly and chest. Arch your spine and back – stretch and feel the energy flow through you! (Caution: If you are seated on a swivel chair, be careful, it might overturn. Don’t ask us how we know…ehem.)
• When you are nervous or frustrated, control your breathing first! Don’t take those ineffective quick short gasps like you’ve just run a thousand miles. Concentrate on your breathing – on every single breath; you will never be overwhelmed by emotions this way.
Where to get a divine Facial with Back Massage
Radisson Blu hotel spa offers a luxurious facial combined with added spinal pressure back, neck and shoulder massage to stimulate the nervous system and balance the body’s energy flow for a whole hour and thirty minutes. Go on, spoil yourself a little!
Price: AED 320 per person
Health Beat
By Max Sawaf
Common Lung Hazards:
During your lifetime, you inhale enough air to fill ten million balloons. Like heating and air-conditioning, breathing is something that we take for granted when it is working. Here is a simple test to check your lungs: Climb two flights of stairs without taking a break. If you experience extreme shortness of breath or have to stop, it is a sign your lungs are suffering at least some distress, even if your heart is at fault. I recommend that you do this test once a month as a way to periodically check your lungs and your heart.
1) Cigarette Smoking: The major cause of COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). The term pulmonary refers to the lungs. Long term smokers may or may not get heart attack or cancer, but they all get pulmonary disease. The lung tissue is destroyed and is replaced by air balloons trapping air. Take a deep breath. Now hold your breath and start breathing from that point, never allowing the lung to completely deflate. That is how you would feel the rest of your life. There is no cure. Be honest with yourself; a chronic or so-called ‘smokers’ cough, shortness of breath and other lung symptoms are not normal. Take action!
2) “Shisha” smoking is increasingly emerging as a significant health risk, due to the sharing of the pipe with someone with pulmonary tuberculosis or TB.
3) Triggers of Asthma: Asthma, the temporary blocking of the small passages of the lungs, has many possible triggers and can be life-threatening.
4) Occupational Hazards: Substances you breathe at work can cause lung trouble too. Workers, who are exposed to occupational hazards in the air, dust like those from coal, silica, asbestos, raw cotton, and metal fumes, or chemical vapours, can develop lung disease.
5) Viruses, Fungi and Bacteria: It is crucial to change the filter of your AC regularly and to clean the AC ducts once a year as moisture from dripping AC condensation encourages the growth of mould which can then be carried to your lungs creating allergies that later turn into asthma.
