the lymph and exercise

Benefit 5 – Detoxification
Many of us do not realize that our breath is an important detoxification tool. The lower lobes of the lungs are loaded with 60-80% of the blood filled, oxygen rich alveoli that are dispersed through all 5 lobes of our lungs. Alveoli exchange oxygen for CO2 and efficiently remove the CO2 waste.
When you start to huff and puff through your mouth during exercise it is because the upper lobes are less efficient at removing the CO2 waste. Though the upper lobes can provide enough oxygen for exchange into the blood, they can’t remove the CO2 waste as well. The way to do this efficiently is to breathe deeply through the nose during a demanding activity like exercise.*
Benefit Six – A Major Lymph Mover
The rib cage is a dynamic series of levels with elastic recoil that massage the heart and lungs during breathing. When breathing through the nose the entire rib cage moves. When breathing through the mouth, only the upper rib cage moves, which forces shallow and inefficient breathing.
With deep, efficient nasal breathing during exercise, the rib cage acts as a lymphatic pump designed to move toxic waste out of the heart and lungs and pull toxic lymph from the Gut Associated Lymphatic Tissue or GALT.* (Look for my next series of video newsletters on the Miracle of Lymph.)
Proper breathing pulls lymphatic waste from various parts of the body,* such as the:

• digestive system – belly fat and bloating.*
• legs – cellulite.*
• feet – arthritis.*
• reproductive organs – hormonal problems.*

I have received numerous emails from folks who have seen dramatic improvements in all these areas just by following the nasal breathing principles in my book Body, Mind and Sport. In addition, they have experienced an overwhelming improvement in mood, energy and sleep.
There are many more benefits that I discuss in Body Mind and Sport that are too numerous to cover in this article. Let’s just say that I never thought the results from such a simple technique would be so amazing!

How Do You Do It?

Steps to Learn Nasal Breathing:

• Start nasal breathing by going for a walk. Walk intentionally slow for 5-10 minutes while you breathe deeply in and out through your nose. During this phase we are “exercising the lungs first”. While you are doing this, tune into the rhythm of the deep nasal breathing and notice the natural space or link that exists between each breath.
• Next, begin to increase the pace of your walk. As you walk faster, watch the rate of the nasal breathing.
• As soon as the breath starts to shorten or you lose that spacing between each breath, slow your walking pace down to the pace you started with. This process resets the breath rate to the original pace, or perhaps even a deeper, slower rhythm.
• Once the breath is reset, start to walk faster again while watching your breath rate. Typically you will see yourself walking faster than before but your breath rate will stay slow and stable while maintaining the natural spacing between each nasal breath.
• At some point, as you increase the walk/jog pace, the breath rate will shorten and you will need to slow down to reset the original slower and deeper breath rate. Then increase the pace again.
• Repeat this process and start enjoying exercise gains without the strain.
• Are you having difficulty breathing through your nose? Read about Shilajit in my free article Ayurvedic Fitness. You may also benefit from using Nasya Oil in your nose before exercising.

The Goal
The goal is to reach a level of respiratory efficiency which allows you to increase your pace while slowing your breath rate. The body will choose longer, deeper and slower breaths as you increase the pace of the workout.

This is “the zone” – a place where you feel both the freedom to move dynamically in your body and a total sense of peace and calm in your mind.