Scientific discovery revolutionizes breathing

Dr Buteyko discovered a revolutionary secret to breathing better. Although of course nose breathing techniques are not news (yoga, qi gong, etc.) Dr. Buteyko proved them to be true scientifically. His research provides a starting point for explaining why we can improve the ventilatory respiratory quotient of the lungs. While people are beginning to realize the power the breath has to restore health and vitality, the surface of what’s possible has only just been scratched, here’s my response to a recent article by Dr. Mercola (view link).

Until we identify exactly what pattern of breathing and movement supplies all tissues evenly with just the right amount of oxygen regardless of exercise speed, intensity, or duration, we miss the mark. We either hypo-ventilate producing an alkalotic state that wastes energy because oxygen supply exceeds demand, such as  breathing faster while sitting still. Or if we’re moving faster than we’re breathing hyperventilation kicks in to catch up (demand exceeds supply). All that huffing and puffing during exercise is commonly thought of as overbreathing, however the opposite is actually happening, a lack of oxygen is making blood pH acidic, that’s why you’re hyperventilating. Hyperventilation itself isn’t a bad thing, it’s critical as a default survival mechanism during exercise, that when suppressed, can cause more harm than good.

Yes the drop in CO2 and pH levels does have a depressive effect on the neural and immune systems. As long as you exhale completely, nose breathing does help the lungs to absorb oxygen, and breath holding does help create a high altitude training effect that conditions lung capacity over time, but this isn’t nearly enough to potentiate the anaerobic threshold in real time during a workout. At a certain point of intensity the hyperventilation in and out through the mouth will take in more oxygen then trying to inhale through the nose if you can even suppress your natural impulse. Before the need to hyperventilate can be rendered null and void, the mechanics of exercise must be precisely engineered to continually normalize 02/ C02 ratios at the juncture of the lungs as well as in the tissues.

Several factors aren’t currently being considered regarding equitable distribution of blood to organs, glands and tissues, including pressure changes in the chest and abdomen which fractionalize the ventilation/ perfusion ratio of the three lung segments. A dynamic synergy between speed of breath, duration of breath holding, lung position relative to gravity, direction of movement, rhythm and centrifugal force, sequencing of large and small muscle groups, V02max requirements and much more is necessary to coordinate the whole spectrum of anatomic physiologic mechanisms. That’s what it takes to effectively balance chemical changes that cause hypoventilation and hyperventilation under all circumstances. You can exercise upside down in every possible position till you’re blue in the face but it won’t make a wit of difference if you haven’t understood the complete parameters of the body’s physiological need to maintain pH balance under all circumstances. And of course simply incorporating Buteyko nose breathing alone won’t optimize gas exchange with the precision necessary to achieve true homeostasis during exercise once you really get going.

Some of more important physiological stressors (cortisol, overheating, build up of metabolites, etc.) which Dr. Buteyko didn’t resolve are the variable imbalances that occur at different degrees of exercise intensity. His technique is unable to account for the required compression in terms of time, nor the specificity of hormonal and neural stimulation that facilitates circulation to bones and deep tissues in equal measure with large working muscles (which otherwise hog all the blood). You know the pre-requisite homeostatic balance for optimal cellular metabolism is being maintained when you have no urge to hyperventilate even when the body is at  maximum training heart rate. This is pHx™.

Take for example, the BreatheEasy which is performed between most of the 24 exercises in the pH fitness series. To maintain the acid-alkaline balance achieved by each set of repetitions during the routine, one of the things we do during the routine is inhale through the nose to the count of six and exhale thru the mouth to the count of six, with an additional three counts added at end-inspiration and end-expiration to facilitate deeper breathing and stimulate the upper respiratory tract. However this specific breathing pattern would have almost zero benefit if it wasn’t for the precise corresponding movement which complements it.

The specialized pHx warm-up cool down workout eclipses rudimentary techniques to surpass the typical benefits of any kind of exercise by ensuring that all organ systems remain fully balanced at all degrees of performance intensity. To achieve this the breathing-specific and movement-specific sequence uses the fastest way to neutralize pH acidity and raise the anaerobic threshold. It goes far beyond what was previously achieved with Buteyko style techniques, to match the body’s need for oxygen exactly. The advantage here is that by utilizing complete range of sequence-specific functional movement through range of motion (repetitive restricted range even with the core engaged can cause injury) it’s now possible to balance V02max equally in all muscles without draining the deep organs, and within minutes prior to sports training. Because the pHx technique also builds unprecedented oxygen reserves in deep organs permitting longer hours of concentration, it truly does prevent cognitive decline. The remarkable routine integrates the different parts of the body as a cohesive coordinated unit, it’s the complete expression of body and mind under the integrating conditions of pH balance with the least time and effort. Naturally efficiency yields the best result.

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Difference between hyper+ventilation hyper+respiration #thenewwaytothink

Does exercise induce hyper-ventilation or hyper-respiration? And what does it matter to those of us who exercise at the intensity necessary to stay in top physical condition?

Until a few years back hyper-ventilation was standard terminology for the normal compensatory mechanism that accelerates breathing during exercise when ventilation spontaneously gets deeper and faster. Then whoever influences medical usage got lazy. They needed a word to describe what happens at another point during exercise which had more clinical significance: the point when muscle fatigue, overheating, and build up of metabolites exceeds compensation. Of course it’s important to distinguish this moment because if  the increasing demands of metabolism can’t be compensated, stroke volume reaches a plateau and often decreases resulting in a fall in blood pressure. Dehydration occurs. Cutaneous vasoconstriction also decreases rate of heat loss and high temperatures result in acute acidosis. “Most people think hyperventilation refers to emotional stress only,” they must have thought, “no one will notice if we start using it to denote the point when the compensatory mechanisms fail instead of the point at which they kick in during exercise.”

Normally ventilatory compensation is caused by rising hydrogen and decreasing carbonic acid in the blood. Although CO2 and CO3 concentrations levels are considered relatively stable during steady state exercise, you still end up with an oxygen debt that must be compensated for before the deficit can be balanced by converting lactate into glucose and blood pH re-established at 7.4.

The problem is when blood pH drops during exercise and  H+ concentrations are high, potassium moves from cells into the extracellular fluid depressing polarity and slowing electrical response in organs, glands and deep tissues. Add high temperatures and increasingly slower excretion of excess H+ by the kidneys as generalized metabolic acidosis ensues, and ventilatory rate dependent on cardiac output for stimulation of the carotid bodies eventually slows down along with decreasing stroke volume and stroke volume and falling blood pressure. When the compensatory mechanisms fail and heart rate slows, the huffing and puffing necessary to rectify acidosis is shut off. So hyper+ventilation really isn’t the best word here at all, is it?

In the meantime another another word was needed to describe the normal acceleration of breathing at the RCP during exercise. The Greek root of hyper-pnoea or hyper-pnea refers to pulmonary respiration or breathing, so that seemed to suffice. However a couple of things were overlooked. What wasn’t taken into consideration is that respiration is not the same as ventilation, but whoever was responsible for the switch in terminology  didn’t think it was important enough to differentiate between the two since their interests had been served.

Steady state exercise would need to increase not decrease respiratory efficiency in order to use hyper-pnea, meaningfully wouldn’t it? But since it always triggers hyper-ventilation when metabolism becomes anaerobic during exercise, this  brings us to the third element regarding usage that’s virtually overlooked. The fact that it’s actually possible to engineer true hyper-plea, true hyper-respiration during exercise by oxygenating all the tissues of the body equally even as heart rate peaks. However it takes a specifically designed sequence of exercises with a breathing movement pattern that can maintain resting state homeostatic balance, a slightly alkaline pH,  at all degrees of performance intensity and duration. As long as the relative anion/cation ratio remains the same the total number of ions can go up or down as metabolism speeds up during exercise and homeostatic acid-base pH is still maintained, aerobically.

Body’Fit pHx™ compensates for oxygen deprivation in deep organs by opening up circulation in deep vessels, so blood volume can’t be shunted over to the muscles like it usually is, thereby maintaining the anion/ cation balance required for acid base equilibrium. In other words no huffing and puffing of heavier breathing is ever triggered at any intensity. This is true hyper-pnea, because the breathing design sustains 100% aerobic cardio,  automatic compensatory hyper-ventilation is completely unnecessary. Body’Fit design works with physiological mechanisms to define the gold standard that makes sense of both hyper-ventilation and hyper-respiration.

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Rationality

Miriam Carey

“The human mind needs to make sense of things, if we haven’t the means or the will to do so, we resort to rationalizing irrationality.” — Suzanna Aaring 2013

How breathing engages the core #thenewwaytothink

Transverse diaphragms connected with the sacral, lumbar, thoracic, and cervical spine need to move freely if electrolytes are to flow uninterrupted up thru the organ systems. Since the diaphragm between the chest and abdomen moves the most, gaining control over ventilatory depth and breadth is the most efficient way to engage the deepest layers of muscle connected to the spine. Whether it’s Yoga, Pilates, or martial arts, all exercise disciplines have their own way of achieving  this, each slightly different depending on their priority. For example in Pilates postural correction thru strengthening and conditioning the core muscles requires a specific explanation of the breathing technique, while in the pHx™ warmup cool down routine the purpose is oxygenating deep organs and muscles equally in the sequence that balances body pH. If you haven’t heard about pHx, it’s performance  pre and post sports training, or any stressful activity, assists the kidneys in normalizing blood pH necessary for integrating physiological processes. The Body”Fit pHx routine is essentially a breathing exercise that utilizes the most economical complete expression of the musculo-skeletal system in a single 7-14 minute session that raises V02max specifically in each muscle group to elicit an entirely revolutionary physiological response aimed at accelerating mind body focus. That is, it prevents acidification of the blood during physical activity by distributing electrolytes evenly to all cells. Therefore pHx requires a more efficient breathing technique.

Transverse abdominis, the muscle that circumvents the abdomen and pops up in your lower belly whenever you cough, is what keeps the  low back in the correct neutral position to stabilize rotation of the torso around the pelvis. It’s most easily activated when we focus in on a very specific point in the belly, which we call the CorePoint™ in pHx. The breathing technique used in pHx to increase movement of the five transverse diaphragms utilizes this primary visualization. The CorePoint is not an anatomical organ like the kidneys, it’s our physical centre of balance located in the middle of the lower abdomen. This is where most of the blood in the body is stored during rest and sleep..

The pelvic diaphragm is felt in the pit of the lower belly just above the pubic bone. If you think of the pelvic diaphragm as the bottom of a bowl, the CorePoint is suspended above it about three fingerwidths below the navel. By visualizing the CorePoint as a magnet that attracts the abdominal diaphragm downwards and the pelvic diaphragm upwards in the vacuum created by expansion of the pulmonary cavity during inspiration, we can sense our whole body at once, coordinating movement and breathing more effectively.

CorePoint breathing also helps improves core conditioning crucial to muscle strength. When we imagine drawing air directly into this point, as opposed to trying to figure out which muscles to activate the core (squeezing in the stomach like corset or a tight belt around your torso, etc) the bottom ribs expand more fully. So pHx isn’t the belly breathing of yoga. The difference is that by end inspiration when air has filled the top lung segment, this depth and breadth of expansion produces pressure changes between the chest and abdomen that naturally pulls up on the deep pelvic core  including the pelvic floor (since all the muscles are connected). It takes Pilates breathing to the next level by becoming aware of all the muscles of the body at the same time, the intelligence of the body engages breathing depth and breath with an efficiency that cannot be duplicated by the mind.

Try it, focus in on the CorePoint, inhale deeply letting the belly expand naturally (don’t worry this isn’t what gives you a pot belly) and notice how contraction peaks first in the abdominal diaphragm, followed by diaphragms related to the chest, neck and head, until finally at the top of the inhale, the pelvic diaphragm is awakened and the pelvic core contracts. When exhaling maintain the CorePoint releases the diaphragm upwards as you press air out of the lungs thru the mouth in the reverse order from top to bottom. This produces quite a different dynamic from Pilates or yoga, without holding in the stomach, squeezing the sphincters to pull up the pelvic floor, contracting the gluts or anything like that. In fact during pHx you shouldn’t attempt to engage the core by using the more superficial muscles as it can restrict breathing.

The ventilatory efficiency that triggers a flash of electrolytes thru all the tissues during pHx depends on the unique breathing pattern for each progressive exercise, however how freely and quickly the chest moves is primarily determined by consistency of visualization. Think of your upper and lower abdomen as an accordion pressing towards the CorePoint on the inhale and opening inward on the exhale, with your lungs doing the pumping action. As you fill your lungs to the top the pressures in the chest and abdomen become such that you can actually feel the CorePoint pulling up all the muscles of the lower abdomen (including the Kegel muscles).

In this way the pelvic transverse diaphragm also follows the breath and is ready to fully contract on the exhale as the CorePoint magnet releases the tissues, and contraction of the pelvic core kicks in fully to stabilize the spine. Believe it or not, but the fact remains mental focus on the precise CorePoint of physical equilibrium, supports the dynamic synergy where all muscles are activated inside following the breath. Unless we pinpoint the CorePoint and fill the lungs from bottom to top and empty in the reverse order, we don’t get the same intensification in the pelvic core during inspiration and we won’t get the same depth of contraction with expiration. No other visualization will do it quite like this.

You can then add the correct posture by dropping shoulders out, back, and down towards the CorePoint, relaxing your feet, unlocking the knees to let your weight sink, tilting the pelvis for a neutral spine, and rucking the hips till you feel a slight curl at the level of the diaphragm in the lower belly and you have an effective two-way stretch from the CorePoint thru the top of your head that activates multifidus and the transverse abdominals, et Voila you’ve engaged your core effortlessly. What it comes down to breathing specific to what we’re trying to achieve with an exercise workout gives better results.

“I admit it, I used to think if I was huffing and puffing till I was blue in the face, I was getting all the oxygen I needed…”

If you like these tips click here for more. Regular performance of pHx strengthens as well as trains the core muscles. When warming up with pHx you’re fully prepped for maximum results with your workout whether that’s weight training, Pilates, or your favourite sport… with less stress. because the routine balances all muscle groups as well as the five neuro-endocrine-organ centres, normalizing body pH in 7-14 minutes..

Will Power

“When we neglect to educate ourselves on the intrinsic parameters of mind and body, its exact makeup, our mental chatter swallows up will to do compromising pre-established natural law, despite good intentions .” — Suzanna Aaring 2013

Insight

“Until there’s room for not knowing, once we’ve processed all the relevant data, we can’t receive insight that fits reality.” Suzanna Aaring 2013

A new approach to weight loss

“The profound effect movement and breathing can have on neural-endocrine mechanisms needs to be understood and respected if we’re to affect weight loss in obesity.” — Suzanna Aaring 2013

Evolution

“Evolution culminates in the human organism however it remains up to us to claim our full stature as individuals, sustainability means nothing without inner and outer unity.” — Suzanna Aaring 2013

Focus

“Focus isn’t just about mindset, and it isn’t only physical readiness, it’s knowing how to breathe to bring the two together without compromising body pH .”– Suzanna Aaring 2013

Rejuvenation

We tend to forget that given what fits, the body can rejuvenate it’s youthful state into old age, if there’s a symptom rest assured there’s an offending cause.” — Suzanna Aaring 2013

Muscle Balance

“Body’Fit movement and breathing needs to be performed following precise natural laws or muscle balance becomes impossible.” — Suzanna Aaring 2013

ANNOUNCEMENT:

Currently Body’Fit pH Fitness™ (short form… pHx™) isn’t available to the general public, please contact Meta Living Design for details.

TONY ROBBINS CONVERGENCE?

Meta Living Design is pleased to announce after talking about how to alkalize the blood with pHx over the last 10 years on the exercise side (walking the talk for 40), Tony Robbins too has also taken up the pH torch on the nutritional side.

ANNOUNCEMENT:

Currently Body’Fit pH Fitness™ (short form… pHx™) isn’t available to the general public, please contact Meta Living Design for details.

http://www.BodyFitLife.com By Invitation Only

A foolproof catalyst for weightloss.” — Ignite Passion, Suzanna Aaring

pHx™ and Pilates

Joseph Pilates at work in his Studio

“Why pHx works so well as prep work for Pilates is that while both adhere to similar principles of movement functionally Pilates concerns itself more with core strength and structural alignment, whereas pHx functions primarily metabolically. Body’Fit pH Fitness (pHx) builds oxygen reserves in deep organs and prevents the usual circulatory shut down that cools visceral tissues, even as V02max rises in all individual muscle groups within 7 to 14 minutes. The pHx routine is design sensitive, it’s about triggering pressure points, bringing the ventilation-perfusion ratio in the three lung segments closer to a value of one, and distributing circulation to all the cells of the body equally so as to elicit the sudden absorption of electrolytes needed to alkalize pH acidity with any type of exercise workout.” — Suzanna Aaring 2013

Personally I do Pilates for postural re-education but it find it cools off my organs too much unless I also do  a pHx warm-up cool down to eliminate muscle soreness, accelerate conditioning, and ace weight loss  »

ANNOUNCEMENT:

Currently Body’Fit pH Fitness™ (short form… pHx™) isn’t available to the general public, please contact Meta Living Design for details.

[ Heart Attack ] Prevention: what are we missing?

Cardiologist Dr. Henry Solomon cited many examples in The Exercise Myth of published studies which clearly show that the majority of cardio vascular accidents where athletes die during or shortly after exercise, were caused by exertion stress. Dr. Amdrew Krahm of the University of British Columbia recently presented a study » at the 2012 Canadian Cardiovascular Congress that suggests sudden death in young athletes is not related to exercise and sports.

The reason given for this new conclusion is the fact that most young athletes die at home when they’re relaxing afterwards, only a few occur on the field while they’re actually playing. Assuming that the cardiovascular accidents in the new study happened after the athlete had fully recovered from exercise training or sports competition (for example it can take the kidneys hours if not days to clear acidity out of the blood and cellular fluid even without the accumulated effect of over-training syndrome) what exactly has changed over the last 25 years to instigate this shift?

If we suspend our skepticism that heart stressors resulting from exercise don’t trigger sudden death from heart attack (not likely since in general 99.9% of all warm-up cool down routines as a rule DO NOT address the disruption of neural, endocrine, circulatory and pH factors that occur during conditioning, adequately ever) then what else could it be? Remember the physiologic changes produced by cortisol combined with an acidified body pH during exercise can damage blood vessel walls much like nicotine as deep body temperature rises and oxygen levels drop. Lactic acid build-up eventually leads to acidosis and changes to the shape and function of protein cells, which is especially damaging to the myocardium. Many forms of cardiomyopathy can occur during exercise where the electrical rhythm of the heart is impacted, including ventricular fibrillation… unless we take the necessary precautionary measures »

We might also find a clue by taking a look at the other side of the lifestyle equation: diet. Given the best case scenerio where a teenager or young adult isn’t snacking on corn or potato chips, sugar, wheat, canola oil, and other GMO based junk food after the game, it’s still been very difficult to avoid the powerful neuro-toxins now widely prevalent on most fresh fruits and vegetables produced in North America. It takes a huge commitment on the part of parents and coaches to source uncontaminated food from local farmers. Find out if they use USDA approved fertilizers or fungicides, because if the symptoms are any indication they now contain ‘safe’ neuro-toxins and GMO derivatives. Plus it’s necessary to check if they protect their harvest from farm to plate during storage, handling and transport. If diet is indeed at least partially to blame, then this makes athlete sudden death a social problem as well as a sports training challenge. Without complete lifestyle solutions for diet and exercise that fit the body we can expect things to get worse before they get better as we raise our consciousness and return to magnificence.

For pro-active health fit tips you can put to work for your family and friends opt in for free here »

ANNOUNCEMENT:

Currently Body’Fit pH Fitness™ (short form… pHx™) isn’t available to the general public, please contact Meta Living Design for details.

…because it fits

“Sooner or later, everyone eventually figures out nothing else works as well without pHx™.” – Suzanna Aaring 2012

ANNOUNCEMENT:

Currently Body’Fit pH Fitness™ (short form… pHx™) isn’t available to the general public, please contact Meta Living Design for details.

Synthetics – Reproductive Hazard?

Due to the widespread marketing and use of synthetic molecules in face creams, I predict a dramatic rise in birthing complications in the next 3 to 5 years.

And it’s completely unnecessary. Attempts to achieve anti-aging by artificial means like nano technology which isolates elements out of context of its whole plant source are sure to have side effects emerge sooner or later. Many of the amino peptides that are being developed alter the neural system in order to numb the muscles that make wrinkles appear. Obviously the nervous system is not isolated to the face, and anything that affects nerves on the surface of the body will also affect nerves to all the internal organs including the heart, lungs, brain and of course the reproductive system.

All the marketing says Now! It’s possible. Stronger healthier skin. It may seem puzzling; surgery and synthetics is afterall in direct contra-indication to real anti-aging. When big money is involved though, it almost begins to sound true.

The imposter can only wear the cloak of truth and mimic the words. Staying awake in its quake is the only answer to remembering who we are as whole unfragmented organisms… fruit born of earth.