Welcome to your mini anatomy and physiology hit this month! It’s important to have some foundational knowledge about your body for awareness, empowerment and to then to later understand some more complex topics such as pranayama in yoga!
So first, lets get to the crux of it. The respiratory system works with the circulatory system to provide the body with oxygen and remove waste. Breathing generally happens without conscious awareness (you don’t need to think about it) however you can change your breath consciously (for example when you practice yoga or meditation). It’s pretty cool that you can breathe both ways.
When you breathe in (inspiration) the air travels through your body in this order:
1. Nose (nasal cavity) OR Mouth (oral cavity)
2. Throat (pharynx)
3. Epiglottis (like a movable flap just above the larynx that prevents food and drink from entering your windpipe)
4. Larynx (voice box at top of airway)
5. Trachea (windpipe)
6. Bronchi (two large tubes that carry air from your windpipe to your lungs)
7. Bronchioles (smaller air passages like branches from the two bronchi)
8. Alveoli (like lots of microscopic bunches of grapes where gaseous exchange takes place and oxygen gets diffused into the blood)
Expiration (or breathing out) starts when the diaphragm relaxes, the volume of the lungs get smaller, the pressure in the lungs increases and then the air escapes for the lungs pressure to become equalised again.
Lungs: Hopefully it’s not a surprise that most people have two lungs. However, interestingly, the right lung has three compartments whereas the left has two lobes. The left lung is smaller due to the heart being a bit bigger on the left side! Serous membranes inside the lungs allow the lunge to move in breathing without causing friction.
Diaphragm: This is a sheet of muscle which is in a dome shape that separates the chest from the abdomen. The diaphragm and intercostal muscles allow breathing.
Alveoli Fun Facts:
- There are 300 million alveoli in two adult lungs
- They have a super large surface area to provide room for lots of gaseous exchange
- They have thin walls and are covered in capillaries
- They are one cell thick
- They have a wet lining to dissolve gasses
There are two types of respiration…
External Respiration = breathing! Oxygen starts at around 21% and then on the breath out reduces to about 17%.
Internal Respiration = cells producing energy.
Respiration can change depending on levels of fitness, your emotional state and/or illness.
Another Fun Fact! Carbon Dioxide is considered a waste product. However, it is essential to life. Carbon Dioxide is like a divorce lawyer – it allows the oxygen to be absorbed by the haemoglobin in the blood.
THE THERAPIES -
Massage can help with respiratory function due to loosening and lengthening muscles that have been contracted and therefore would be impacting effective breathing. Relaxation during massage can slow the breath down and help initiate the rest and digest phase.
Aromatherapy offers many oils and blends that can open and assist airways so many ways. For example, eucalyptus oil has been known to help with many respiratory conditions.
Reiki and Crystals have anecdotally been said to affect the respiratory system. While studies are limited in this area, clients have spoken about their breathing changing during sessions. At the very least, if the client feels relaxed, the rest and digest phase can be of benefit to the client here also!
Yoga is based on being able to breathe. As you have probably read in the previous blog, the very foundation of yoga is to link movement with the breath. Yoga can help with moving from unconscious breathing that may be limited in some way to breathing consciously. A true yogi’s life is not measured by days, but by the number of breaths they take.
I highly recommend reading “Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art” by James Nestor. Life changing information! In another post, I will be talking more about breathing but on a less scientific level. For now, please remember LONG, DEEP, SLOW breaths are best.
Panic attack breathing gets us nowhere.
If you have any questions or want to know more, email me or message me!
Reference: Nestor, J. (2020) Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor. Penguin Books.