Tag Archives: breathing

Health Sidebar VII: The Essential 4 Series Continues…Neti Pot Love!

Ceramic neti pot; neti pots can also be made f...

Ceramic neti pot; neti pots can also be made from glass, metal, or plastic. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Two days ago, I took a break from my neti pot. Yesterday, my nostrils were blocked, like the first time I started..

This morning, I had an eyelash in my eye. Taking it out via rubbing/blowing, left my eye with a lot of red lines. As I started to use the neti pot on my right side (comes out the left nostril and there was redness in my left eye, my nostril was once again blocked. I relaxed my shoulders and my face and looked into my eye.

The first thing I noticed was that the red lines in my eye moving and even disappearing. Usually, I would get frustrated and stop but I kept breathing slowly, keeping everything relaxed. One minute later, my left nostril was flowing. I did the same process with the right, with the same result.

It’s amazing how the neti pot nit only clears your nostrils/sinuses, but also your eyes!

#health

I posted this on my Facebook page yesterday. As I read it over, I remembered when I posted a blog about even trying to use a neti pot (click here for the entire post).
I haven’t used a neti pot in a long time. One day, I just felt like there was too much mucus in my brain, eyes, and chest. Mind you, I could do pranayama practices with no problems. My sinuses were clear. So I decided that for one week, I would do the neti pot every morning, before I shower.

It’s been almost a week. I skipped a day and my sinuses clogged up again. Now, there is more of a flow and my head feels clearer. My eyes feel less pressure and my skin is even clearing up (Neti pot usage generally helps with colds, allergies, and minor sinus infections). Continue reading →

The Concepts of Movement & Stillness

Hey All!

As I progress with this blog, I’m going to introduce many concepts to you. These concepts are sometimes completely opposite to one another…or just appear that way. However, once you understand the concepts, you realize that you just had a physics lesson. The opposites attract and complement each other. That is true balance.

Ying and Yang are said to be complete opposites of one another, however they balance each other. Without one, there is no other. You may think that one can survive without the other (it is possible) but the sum of the parts are greater than the parts themselves. Think about this in the back of your mind while I proceed. Continue reading →

The Essential 4 Series: Breathing and the OD Factor

A while back, I spoke about what I called “the OD Factor.” OD can mean “OverDoit” “OverDose” or even “OverlyDone”. Basically, it means not to take anything too far or go overboard with any information that is given to you. While I was walking during lunch, I realized a couple of things that I need to tell you in regards to breathing. It’s easy for people to learn new information, get excited and then do it so much or without proper instruction, that they hurt themselves. Breathing is too important of a process to get it wrong…it’s one thing to experiment on yourself when you have proper awareness but as a beginner with no real awareness, it’s a no no. Continue reading →

The Essential 4 Series: Inhale and Exhale II (The Process of Breath)

I’m going to explain a couple of things to you. Before I start, I want to tell you that most people’s bodies are functioning in “emergency” or “survival” mode on a constant basis. This is because of stress, your mind-body disconnect, and other reasons that I will reveal in later posts.

The digestive process starts with your mouth.
The breathing process starts with your nose.

(I have tried my experiment with 5 more people and it was basically the same results as my last blog. I did notice, however, that people who are aware of their breathing and know how to breathe had less problems than those who did not.)

In the wintertime, the air is dry and cold. Since your nose likes to be moist, your body will naturally send mucus to your nostrils so that it can be moist (that’s why when you breathe in the wintertime through your nose, the boogies will start to run down your nose. Clear mucus means that your body is trying to moisturize; thick mucus means that your body is trying to heal itself from sickness). Since your mind thinks that mucus is a bad thing (even though your body has a certain amount of mucus that is needed for many functions), it will want you to open your mouth so that you don’t have nasal drip. This is where the mind-body disconnect comes in. Continue reading →

The Essential 4 Series: Inhale and Exhale (Intro to Breathing)

Right now in NYC, it’s about 17 degrees outside. I can’t speak for all the West Coasters and those down south, but Canadians will agree that it’s really cold. For the past month or two, I’ve been watching the movements of people, when they are walking in the wintertime. For the most part, people have their heads bent, shoulders up and mouths open.

Sounds weird doesn’t it? Not the heads bent or the shoulders up but the mouths open. What’s really weird about it is that if you were to ask any of these people if they realize that their mouths are open while they walk, they will say “NO!” However, most people don’t even think about their mouth when they walk.

Now, I didn’t tell you this before but my chiropractor told me that if your head is down (neck is bent) for more than 10 seconds, there is a problem. Your neck should not be held in this position for long periods of time. Yet, most people in the wintertime do exactly that (as if their 2 scarves and head coverings aren’t enough). Reading the last series, I’m guessing you can gather that keeping your shoulders up for long periods of time is not a good idea either. I said to you in the past that good posture leads to good breathing so it’s safe to glean that your neck bent and your shoulders up will cause problems not only for your neck and shoulders but also your breathing will be affected.

“So what does this have to do with your mouth open?,” you might ask. I’ll get to that very soon. Trust me. ;)

I know first hand what cold can do to muscles. When I was working at MTV, I had a bad car accident. We already discussed how my neck was affected. So 6 months since the injury and I’m at work, doing my job like a busy little bee. I had moved to a different cubicle and the previous owner busted the vent so that “he could get air.” As the cold air hit me, I felt funny…after a while, I couldn’t move. It was painful to move my neck or even my legs. My chiropractor had to come to my job and practically help me thaw out. The cold maybe good if something is swollen but not in my case. Cold constricts and heat expands muscles. So if you’re helping the cold to constrict your muscles and then you go in heat and they expand (even though you might still be in the bent neck/shrugged shoulders position unconsciously), wouldn’t that make them a bit confused? I truly don’t know how colds and flu happens to people (or why) but one theory most people have is that they are in the cold for too long and then go into heat (or naturally speaking, weather changes from really cold to unseasonably warmer temperatures). I can’t speak for your nose or your throat, but when it comes to the aches and pains that comes with colds and flus, my theory seems very plausible. Continue reading →