|
Below, you'll find extensive information on leading
rare baby names articles and products to help you on your way
to success.
Students - Breathe New Life Into Your Learning
By Royane Real, Sat Dec 10th
Guess what action you've performed more often than any other inyour life? Is it eating? Sleeping? Crying? Laughing? No! Giveup? It's breathing! You've been breathing pretty much non-stopsince you were born, with few exceptions. So with all those years of practice you probably think you'vefigured out how to do it properly by now. Would it surprise youto learn that your breathing technique was probably better whenyou were an infant than it is today? Watch the way a baby breathes when it's lying on its back. Thebaby's little abdomen moves up and down with each breath, goingup when the baby breathes in, and down when the baby breathesout.
This action is caused by the diaphragm, a powerful musclelocated below the chest cavity. It is the movement of thediaphragm that pumps air in and out of the lungs. Take a few moments to observe the way you are breathing, rightnow, without changing the way you are doing it. Notice which parts of your body move as you breathe. Which partsof your body are not moving? Is the top part of your chestfilling up with air while your lower chest and abdomen remainsmotionless? Where do you feel tense? Are your shoulders slumped over orcaved in? Do your shoulders move up and down as you breathe inand out? If your shoulders move up and down as you breathe, you areintroducing a lot of unnecessary and ineffective tension intoyour body. You are also wasting a lot of muscular effortperforming an inefficient movement. Your shoulders are notdesigned to pump air in and out of your lungs. Remember that it is your diaphragm that powers your breathing.If you don't know where your diaphragm is, it is locatedapproximately below the bottom of your ribcage, beneath yourlungs and above your stomach and intestines. If your breathing fills up and expands the top third of yourlungs while the lower two-thirds do not move, you are not takingoxygen into your body very effectively. This is a bad habit that many adults have developed. You caneventually end up over-expanding the air-sacs in the top thirdof your lungs, while those in the bottom part of your lungsnever fill up properly. Although we have wonderful breathing techniques as babies, weoften develop bad habits and accumulate physical and emotionaltensions as we grow older. These can eventually impede ourbreathing and our overall body and brain effectiveness. Short changing your body on oxygen will hurt your brain morethan any other organ. Remember that this three-pound organ canrequire as much as 20 to 25% of your body's oxygen supply! If you are a student who is studying,
Comic: Depressed flatulence
404 rampage not found
Screed: Depressed flatulence
April 18, 2007
404 rampage not found
your brain cells need tohave an adequate supply of oxygen. When you don't breatheproperly, your brain cells can't function at their best, and youwon't be as good a learner as you could be. To increase your ability to think clearly and concentrate, makecertain you are avoiding some of the worst breathing disrupters. If your shoulders are hunched forward you diminish yourbreathing capacity. If only the top part of your chest isfilling up, you are not making use of all the cells in the lowerpart of your lungs that are desperate to take in some air foryou. Put your hands on the lower part of your ribcage, one on eachside. As you breathe in and out, can you feel whether your lungsare filling and pushing outward near the bottom? Or is all themovement at the top of your chest? Lie down and practice breathing the way a baby does. Allow yourbody and mind to become very relaxed and let your abdomen moveup and down freely. You may have to give yourself mentalinstructions to relax your shoulders, chest and abdomen as youbreathe. Spend some time becoming familiar with this sense of bodilyrelaxation. Try to remember the sensation of breathing smoothlyand freely. When you breathe in and out, do you make a smoothtransition from your in-breath to your out-breath? Do you noticethat you sometimes stop your breath? Learn to avoid this habit.Holding your breath, unless it is a part of a deliberatebreathing technique can result in difficulty paying attentionwhile you learn. For most learning purposes what works best is a very smooth,relaxed, and flowing in-and-out breath with no pauses. If youwant to slow down your brain waves while you take in newinformation, you can count slowly and smoothly while you breathein and out rhythmically. For example, breathe in smoothly while you count to four, andbreathe out smoothly to the count of four. You may relax evenmore effectively by breathing in to the count of four, andbreathing out to a count of six or eight. Do this easily without straining, for a few minutes before youstart to study. Don't pause between your in-breath and your out-breath; make the transition smooth and flowing. Each time you are faced with a learning situation, take the timeto check your breathing. Be sure you are relaxed and your breathis flowing smoothly. When you breathe more smoothly, with less tension, your braincells will be better able to get the oxygen they need for you tobe a better student! About the author:This article is written by Royane Real, author of the new book"How You Can Be Smarter - Use Your Brain to Learn Faster,Remember Better, and Be More Creative" To learn more about howto get your brain to work better, download it today athttp://www.royanereal.com
|
