excerpted from chapter 22 of Dealing with Depression Naturally, copyright (c) 1995 by Syd BaumelBreathing and BreathworkEastern bodyworkers have always said so, and now Western bodyworkers and some scientists concur: most of us don't breathe right. We breathe shallowly from the top of the chest when we should be letting our bellies bulge like babies, so the bottoms of our lungs, where the blood-flow is greatest, can breathe too. Deprived of prana, the "life force" in the air, we are less vital and alert, say the yogis. Starved for oxygen, the scientists point out, and stuffed with unexpired carbon dioxide, we weaken our immune systems, lower our energy, and are prey to anxiety and depression (8). Just look how depressed people with clinical breathing disorders are! (9) But "do it [breathe] right," promises physician and biochemist Sheldon Hendler, "and you may inherit more than the wind; you're also likely to acquire high energy, improved metabolism, good health, endurance, and longevity" (8, p. 95). When you inhale the "right" way, your belly balloons out to let the muscle layer at the bottom of the chest cavity, the diaphragm, drop a few inches and give your lungs more breathing room. To get the idea, Hendler suggests resting your hands on your belly just under the rib cage and feeling it balloon all the way out as you inhale and contract as you exhale. (The complete breathing exercise of hatha yoga goes even further than this.) Doing this just a few minutes each day, Hendler promises, can greatly boost your vitality and well-being.
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