Breathing well/correctly is critically important to singers. The following excerpt (which is from the book, "Wellness on a Shoestring: Seven Habits for a Healthy Life") emphasizes the importance of breathing deeply in regard to your overall health. Expand your lungs and read on ...
Hugs, Carolena
"Think about the last time you were looking forward to something really exciting. Did your breathing speed up? Could you feel your heart in your chest? Did you gasp in surprise or delight? Did the moment quite literally take your breath away?
"Now think about the last time you felt anxious about something, or afraid. Did your breathing speed up? Could you feel your heart in your chest? Did you gasp in shock, horror or outrage? Did the moment lock up your muscles, causing you to hold yourself so tightly that even your breathing ceased?
"Good or bad, high or low, our emotions are intimately connected to our breathing. We reveal our inner state by the way we breathe. Every feeling, every experience we have affects our breathing. And the reverse is also true: The way we breathe affects our experiences and the way we process our emotions …
"Breathing well is arguably the most important thing you can do for your health. Without breath, there is no life at all. It is for this reason that human beings from earliest times have connected the life force within to the breath. Before the advent of machines that register precisely when the brain dies, the moment of death was the moment one stopped breathing.
"In religious belief systems such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the breath of God is a powerful, life-giving force. We have images of God forming humans by hand and breathing into their lungs to impart life. We are inspired by religious scriptures and writings, including those of St. Paul, that use words such as the Greek term theopneustos, which means “God-breathed” or “breathed out by God.” And in [many] spiritual practices … we see focused breathing used as a tool to bring one into a state of meditation — that calm, clear, focused state of alpha brain wave patterns that is so beneficial to our health and well-being.
" … Breathing is a wellness practice that is absolutely free! You can practice intentional deep breathing anywhere and anytime. Deep breathing affects every system of the body in positive ways."
~Michelle Robin, D.C., and Roxanne Renée Grant