Alternative Practices | Breathe Network

Benefits Practicing Yoga Breathwork Can Have

Yoga is one of the most common forms of breathwork that people engage in. Even though yoga practices and exercises might be extremely popular very few people know exactly how yoga breathwork benefits them. Here is a look at some of the ways that yoga breathwork can benefit you.

Oxygen Creation. Yoga breathing is vital and beneficial to the body because it allows the body to create an abundance of oxygen that can be used to make the blood of the body flow better or increase circulation.

Nutrition. Yoga works to nourish the body in oxygen. When there is not enough oxygen in the body it could be almost as bad as not having enough water or food. This is why many yoga practitioners believe that they are feeding the body and the soul.

Purification. When the body has a better flowing bloodstream it is working harder to purify the body of any harmful chemicals or toxins. Many disease or problems can be reversed just by introducing an excessive amount of oxygen into the body.

Posture Fix. A lot of the yoga practices requires the body sit in a very straight position. It also allows the body to move and become more flexible. This can help aid those that have poor posture and encourage them to have their posture fixed in a natural way.

Stress Reduction. One of the major reasons people engage in yoga is because of the stress reduction that it has. Yoga allows the body to relax and pushes the stress out of the body by introducing more oxygen and purifying itself in a natural way. And this kind of relaxation is more than just lounging with a remote and direct star tv movie on.

Filed Under: Alternative Practices, Breathwork Tagged With: Nutrition, Stress management, Yoga

Asthma and Breathing Practices

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It is undeniable: asthma is on the rise. According to studies performed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, asthma has increased at least twelve percent in only three years. Doctors and scientists are still working to target specific causes, but believe lack exposure to the sun (and therefore Vitamin D deficiency) and access to fresh, unpolluted air. Scented atomizers and cleaning sprays may also be accountable, as inhaling their particles is dangerously easy and can aggravate the lungs, paving the way for future asthma.

Fortunately, people already suffering from asthma have a multitude of options in treating this respiratory disease. While prescription inhalers are typically associated with asthma, there are various alternate remedies available that often don’t come with the same side effects as traditional medicine. These alternatives include breathing exercises, acupuncture, herbs, and meditative training.

Numerous websites offer material on breathing exercises and their benefits. In breathing applications inhaling and exhaling through the nose is preferred over the mouth. Mental imagery during breathing exercise often enhances the benefits. Naturopaths believe that visualizing the healthy expansion of lungs and uncluttered airways relaxes the meditater and can actually help stave off potential asthma attacks.

Yoga also assists in such visualization and accentuates soothing and wholesome breathing, and actually works out the respiratory system. The best feature of breathing exercises and yoga for asthmatics is that it can be implemented by children and adults alike. These breathing exercises can even be used when an asthma attack begins to help the patient. Asthmatics should consider exploring all of these options to find what suits them and their symptoms.

Filed Under: Alternative Practices, Breathwork Tagged With: Asthma, Breathing, Lung

Learning The Viloma Breathing Exercise

Viloma breathing exercises are a specially designed yoga breathing treatment that are used to center and focus on one’s life energy. It is usually recommended that those that are looking to learn Viloma breathing exercises seek the professional help of a yoga instructor. However, the breathing exercise can also be learned by individuals at home.

Here is a brief walkthrough of the Viloma breathing exercise.

Step One. Start by sitting in a very comfortable position. This can either be sitting cross legged on the floor or yoga mat or on an upright chair. Regardless of what type of sitting position you sit in make sure you sit up straight and that you are comfortable.

Step Two. Start by taking small breaths in and holding them for three seconds then letting them out slowly. You will do this several times to warm the body up and prepare it for the following exercises.

Step Three. When you are prepared you will start to add various elements to your breathwork. The first one will be to add the chin lock and the root lock to the exercise. This is done by allow you to inhale and pushing the shoulders back and away from the ears. You will lower the chin to the chest without collapsing the body. For the root portion you will inhale and internally lift your pelvis.

Step Four. Start inhaling and exhaling. It is important to try this and make sure that you are inhaling through the nose and with the mouth closed. You will do three breaths like this until you feel comfortable and ready to proceed to the next step.

Step Five. You will now take the breathing exercises that you practiced along with the chin and root exercises and combine them. You will practice inhaling through the nose while working to move the chin or internal pelvic area. This is often hard and can be very intense so it is important to make sure you are ready before trying this at home.

Filed Under: Alternative Practices, Breathwork Tagged With: breath, Physical exercise, Yoga

Alternative Medicial Approaches to Reducing Asthma Symptoms

There are two types of asthma. There is extreme asthma that requires the use of prescription medications and there is a less severe type of asthma that can be controlled through alternative means. If you are suffering from the less severe type of asthma there are many alternative approaches that you can take to reduce your asthma symptoms. Here is a look at some of the alternative methods.

Warm Liquids. Warm liquids are believed to help open up the chest and relieve any coughing or asthma symptoms. In fact, some alternative medicine practitioners will recommend the use of teas or coffee to open up the chest as the caffeine works as a bronchodilator and help loosen up the airways to the lungs.

Steam. Steam is another alternative approach to treating asthma symptoms. It is believed if you sit in a warm room with steam such as a bathroom or a sauna it can help loosen up the bronchial tubes and help relieve the symptoms of asthma. Steam can be inhaled by inhaling it from a cup of warm liquids or even just sitting in a bathroom with the shower or hot bath running.

Breathwork. There are many yoga breathwork exercises that will help the asthma sufferer learn how to regulate their breathing. It is believed that when those with asthma start to breathe properly they are able to reduce the effects that asthma has on the body. Yoga and Pilates are also known to help open up the chest and loosen up the airways so that breathing is a lot easier in those that suffer from asthma.

Filed Under: Alternative Practices, Herbal Medicine Tagged With: Asthma, Asthma Symptoms, Pilates

Basic 411 for Children’s OTC Cold Medicine

FDA Warnings

Cold medicine is not safe for children under the age of 2 and not recommended for any children under the age of 4. Tips on safe use of cold medicine:

Make sure you are not providing two medicines containing the same active ingredient.
Try to purchase medicine with a child safety cap, and make sure you close it all the way after each use, and try to store it out of reach of your children.
Only use measuring devices specifically made for medicine.
Keep a log of the medicine you give your child tracking date, time, quantity and drug so that you or another caregiver don’t accidentally give another dose too soon.
Keep in mind cold medicine only treats symptoms. It won’t make your child get better sooner.
Follow instructions accurately, and do not give children cold medicine intended for adults.

Antihistamines

Examples: Diphenhydramine, Brompheniramine, Chlorpheniramine, Loratidine. Ceterizine, and Carbinoxaimine

Antihistamines are used to treat allergies. Most night time medicine includes an antihistamine to help you sleep. It is not generally recommended to give your child an antihistamine just to help him fall asleep. If your child is having a problem sleeping due to a cough, better he have the luxury of waking up to hack something out that could choke him rather than the luxury of sleep.

Expectorants

Most commonly used: Guaifensesin

Expectorants help loosen phlegm and make it easier to cough it up; however, they have not been proven to help children. Steam will also help loosen mucus.

Cough Suppressants

Most commonly used: Dextromethorphan (DM)

If your child is coughing a dry, unproductive cough and is breathing fine, cough suppressants can help reduce the amount of coughing. Decongestants are usually used to complement this drug.

Decongestants

Examples: Phenylephrine and pseudoephedrine

Decongestants help relieve runny noses, but often come with the side effects of hyperactivity, irritability, and sleeplessness.

Filed Under: Alternative Practices, Health Tagged With: Brompheniramine, Cetirizine, Common cold, CoughMedicine, Diphenhydramine

Keep Asthma Under Control

If you aren’t living with asthma, consider yourself lucky! There aren’t many things in this world scarier than a severe asthma attack. Just imagine how it would feel if you were suddenly unable to draw a single breath of air. In some cases, this can happen with little or no warning. If you or your loved one is living with this very serious chronic illness, let’s take a look at a few things you should do.

Keep Your Asthma under Control

If you or your loved one suffers from asthma, it’s important to see a doctor regularly to keep this chronic disease under control. It’s much easier to prevent an asthma attack than to recover from one! In fact, a severe asthma attack could result in a trip to the hospital or worse. Make sure you take your medicine and use your inhaler as directed. Stay away from smoke, dust, and other allergens as much as possible. With the proper healthcare and maintenance medication, most people with asthma can live a perfectly normal life.

Buy a Good Insurance Policy

Of course, doctor visits, breathing treatments, medications, and hospital visits can get expensive. However, when it’s a life or death matter, you can’t afford to not take care of this dire medical problem. To minimize your costs and keep every health care option open, invest in a great health insurance policy. By taking advantage of online insurance quotes, you can easily compare a variety of coverage levels, insurance companies, and prices to get the best deal on the health care features you actually need.

Don’t suffer, or allow a family member to suffer, with the dangerous disease known as asthma. Take advantage of one of the many health insurance plans available to provide medical care on a regular basis and in the event of an emergency.

Filed Under: Alternative Practices, Health Tagged With: Asthma, Chronic (medicine), Conditions and Diseases, Health, Insurance, Organizations, Respiratory Disorders, United States

To Milk Or Not To Milk

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It is the stuff of legend that drinking milk makes for whiter teeth, stronger bones, and enough calcium to keep cancer and osteoporosis at bay. Milk has long served as the poster child of good clean living (in fact they still toast with the stuff as the drink of champions at the Indianapolis 500 every year). But if milk is the “end all, be all” of calcium sources, what do those who are lactose-intolerant take to ensure themselves of the same white teeth and strong bones that their dairy-scarfing counterparts enjoy? And what about the overall cons to eating too much dairy in the first place, which include ingesting high levels of cholesterol and increased saturated fat?
The fact is that dairy products, while still an excellent source, are not the only source of calcium. There are an abundance of alternative foods out there that not only provide the recommended daily allowances of calcium and other healthy nutrients, they even provide more, and in healthier forms.
Leafy greens such as collards, broccoli, kale, spinach, and bok choy are rich in calcium, and come with healthy amounts of vitamin K. Other sources of calcium such as peas, black beans, and baked beans also include high levels of fiber, which is a necessary agent for good digestive health. A wide variety of fish and shellfish have high amounts of calcium, and for the vegetarian crowd, soy products such as soy milk and tofu are popular and also provide a healthy amount of protein.
Fruits and nuts can also work well for those looking for a non-dairy source of calcium. Raw figs and apricots, almonds, walnuts, and even sesame seeds fit in well with any diet, and practically any dish. Of course most daily multi-vitamins and other nutritional supplements also come with the recommended daily allotment of calcium.

Filed Under: Alternative Practices, Health, Resources Tagged With: Dairy Products, Lactose intolerance, Soy milk

Spreading the Word About Breathwork

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There are hundreds of types of breathwork that have been around for a number of years. There is breathwork that deals with psychological issues, breathwork that handles stress and even breathwork that can help you quit smoking. If there’s a medical or psychological issue out there then there is probably a breathwork course that claims to cure, help or relieve the symptoms associated with the medical issue.

Even though breathwork has been around for centuries it’s still a relatively new concept. Breathwork has just started gaining momentum over the past decade or so. As people are turning to holistic and natural cures for various medical and emotional problems, breathwork has started to gain a bigger following.

Even with the huge following there are still many people who haven’t heard about breathwork. They don’t understand what it is, how it can help medical or emotional problems and how they can benefit from taking part in breathwork courses. Due to the limited amount of information that is out there about breathwork it’s up to practitioners and those that practice breathwork to spread the word.

Here are two ways that you can help spread the word about breathwork.

1. Hold informational seminars. Many people who take part in breathwork sessions hold informational seminars so that people can learn more about the benefits of breathwork. These seminars can be held at libraries, hospitals, assisted living facilities or even on college campuses.

2. Invite a friend to come along. Many people who practice breathwork do so in a group setting. If you have a friend that might be interested invite them along to see what breathwork can do for them. Sometimes you have to see it to really understand the benefits. Inviting a friend along allows them to be able to experience breathwork while getting information and having first hand experience with it.

Filed Under: Alternative Practices, Breathwork Groups Tagged With: Alternative medicine, Assisted living, Breathwork, Health, Medicine, Psychology, Seminar, Smoking cessation

What are Electric Cigarettes?

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Electric cigarettes are a growing and relatively new niche within the globally lucrative industry of cigarette manufacturers. It seems that regardless of the number of new laws passed by individual governments regarding tobacco use, cigarettes will always find their way into the hands of desiring tobacco users. The controversy behind smoking lies not so much in the product as it does in its unintended consequences to bystanders for whom second-hand smoking is a real concern.

The impetus behind the electric cigarette and what supporters claim to be the solution to the collateral effects of second-hand smoking is that the electric cigarette, or e-cigarette, does away completely with smoke as a side-effect of smoking without additional risks to bystanders. The FDA, however, seems to disagree and is undergoing legal disputes over the authority to regulate electric cigarettes. It seems that from the perspective of the FDA, e-cigarettes are a device used for the delivery of nicotine and, thereby, should fall within its purview.

The way the electric cigarette works is by inhaling through its mouthpiece, what traditional cigarette smokers might view as the filter end of the cigarette. When the act of inhalation is performed, a vaporizing process is initiated within the replaceable cartridge component of the cigarette. The resulting vapor mist contains nicotine and tobacco flavored scent. This mist is what is inhaled by the “smoker” and, in effect, replaces the smoke delivery method of traditional cigarettes. Manufacturers of e-cigarettes claim that the mist harmlessly evaporates into the air and therefore does not present a second-hand smoke effect to others within a range of the smoker.

The electric cigarette is composed of a small rechargeable battery, replaceable cartridge, and the delivery device usually made to resemble a traditional cigarette that holds all of these components in place and used for delivery of the resulting vapor when inhaled.

Filed Under: Alternative Practices, Techniques Tagged With: Cigarette, Electronic cigarette, Health

Breathe Easier By Quitting Smoking

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Everyone knows the body must have clean oxygen in order to function properly, in order to live. Smokers know this, but the feel-good properties of the nicotine drug keep them in denial. Until they are pricked to stop the abuse for some significant reason, smokers will continue to deprive their bodies of life-sustaining oxygen. Sometimes, that reason is a current health issue or the fear of future health issues. Often, smokers are spurred to seek kicking the habit by a loved one they care deeply about who worries about the smoker’s health and wants them to overcome the nicotine addiction.

It is interesting to note how the body responds to going without a cigarette, in terms of oxygen and rejuvenation. A mere 20 minutes after a smoker has finished a cigarette, blood pressure begins to lower and pulse rate begins to stabilize. Eight hours after the last cigarette is smoked, the oxygen level in the smoker’s body rises to normal levels as the carbon monoxide levels drop to normal levels. This is a big deal. The body begins to repair itself as fresh oxygen flows freely. In 24 hours after the last cigarette, the body’s chances of a heart attack are lowered. And in 48 hours, smell and taste begins to improve. Those are a lot of positive, healthy changes in less than two days after the last cigarette.

Quitting smoking is not easy, by any means. Even the most highly motivated quitter will struggle, for nicotine is a powerful drug. The long-time habits of having a cigarette after a meal or when faced with stressful situations are hard habits to find substitutes for. Some people have success using products such as electronic cigarette starter kits, where the physical imitation of smoking is present without the tobacco.

Filed Under: Alternative Practices, Breathwork Groups, Teachers Tagged With: Anxiety disorder, Carbon monoxide, Cigarette, Health, Nicotine, Smoking cessation, Tobacco, Tobacco smoking