The art of breathing and good living
Learn to breath? Maybe you think it sounds odd: we breath in every moment, otherwise we could not live! Indeed, an inhalation is our first act at birth and an exhalation the last of our life. However, this is surviving, living is a different deal. Living means becoming aware of the complexity of the human being: soul, mind and body. A whole made of material, emotions and feelings. Concepts that sound so different but are intimately connected.
On the rhythm of the breathing, our well-being depends: wrong breathing causes interruptions in the activity of diaphragm with resulting cervical and lower back pain. On the contrary, right breathing has good effect on the posture, gives new oxygen to tissues and represents a great support for the lymphatic system. Try to control the rhythm of inhalations and exhalations when suffering from gastritis and constipation, you will realize it is a valuable auto-massage for organs and innards.
Breath and emotions
Beside body, the breath is strictly connected with our deepest part, the emotional and irrational sphere. Pay attention to the signals of your diaphragm according to your emotional state: when you are angry, stressed, worried, anxious, you breath fast, when you feel fine and happy, your breathing is slow and deep, from the abdomen.
If you have never done before, now become aware of this interdependence and learn to control it to your advantage. The breath influences our emotions, our emotions influence the breath.
Breath consciously: observe the air getting in the nose, blowing up the abdomen first, then the thorax, finally the chest to get expelled through a slow and controlled exhalation. The attention at the sequence inhalation-exhalation fosters introversion, reduces the flow of thoughts and helps to focus on the actual moment.
It is a kind of meditation, which you can learn to practice, through some training, and get in contact with the unconscious: stimulating the muscle relaxation, indeed, you get free from body and mind tensions, making room for clean air and new life.
Breathing in massage
A perfect way to connect with the deepest part of ourselves, is massage itself, so it is not surprising the strong link between massage and breath. Moment of rest and concentration, the massage is a perfect chance to focus on breathing, removing all negative thoughts and worries. You always start with a series of deep inhalations from the nose and exhalation from the mouth, imagining to expel, together with the air, a cloud of bad feelings.
Now you are ready to general relaxation, you can rely on the breath for the stretching too in some types of massage (decontracting, postural and Thai): the slower is the exhalation, the greater is the muscle extension.
During the “Udara” treatment, breathing is abdominal, which means you focus on the air getting in and out from the nose to the abdomen with no effort, the rhythm is controlled, steady and measured. Such breathing allows the relaxation of muscles, organs and innards, giving immediate well-being to a very delicate body region, with no pain.
Against wrinkles, stretch marks and skin blemishes the best massage is olive oil based. A real green gold thanks to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, it is rich in vitamins (E and A) and bio phenols.
A cure-all for skin, especially at the end of summer: try it at our Blu Spa.
