Optimal Being

“ How to Breathe Correctly for Optimal Health, Mood, Learning & Performance ,” In this post we discuss how deliberate respiration (breathing) represents a unique and powerful bridge between the subconscious and conscious mind — and how specific breathing protocols allow us to shift the state of our brain and body in powerful ways. We explain how to  use specific breathing patterns  to influence your brain-body state and thereby  positively shift your mood, physical capacity, and focus — and improve sleep . Indeed, even brief, deliberate breathing protocols, if done correctly, can positively impact all these around the clock — not just during the breathwork practice. Why We Breathe Breathing allows the body to draw in oxygen (O 2 ) and discard carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), or more accurately to  balance  ratios of O 2 :CO 2  in our brain and body. When we inhale, oxygen fills and passes from millions of tiny sacs (“alveoli”) in our lungs, into our bloodstream....

We each have the same 24 hours in the day. How will you spend yours? We each have the same 24 hours available to us. What we do with those hours varies by culture and gender, but we each have at least a few hours to spend in leisure.  The 5-hour rule asks us to devote at least one hour a day to learning, experimenting, and reflecting. It's a trick used by the richest and most successful people in the world.   Here are three easy steps to start your own 5-hour rule. The anatomy of a day There are 24 hours in a day (or 1,440 minutes, if you really like to count your life away). The average person sleeps around eight hours (with  the Dutch  sleeping the most and the Singaporeans the least). That leaves 16 waking hours left to spend (I’m afraid those “learn while you’re sleeping” tapes  aren’t likely to work ). We need to subtract the seven to eight hours a day during which most people work, though those sleepy  Dutch work a bit less . So, we’re down to nine re...