breathe people!

Breathing is such a basic function of life that I think alot of people (including myself until just recently) tend to overlook it. It is a major factor, for example, in doing any sort of physical activity or sport. For example, when I jog, I have a specific breathing technique that I use that helps me go longer distances at a steady pace. It is vitally important in yoga and almost all meditation and relaxation techniques as well. I can also tell you from experience: if you ever wear a tight corset, learning to breathe properly is essential! :-)

In a way, since we all breathe involuntarily and without thinking about it, people just assume that how they breathe is normal. But perhaps that isn't so. I know virtually nothing technical about this topic, mind you, but I believe that if we paid far more attention to how we breathe, especially in stressful or chaotic situations, we would be much better at dealing with those situations (and perhaps there could even be less anger, less violence). Breathing properly can be used as an effective and basic tool for dealing with and relieving stress. Often when I feel my anger start to rise, when I feel my blood begin to boil, if I just consciousy take a couple deep breaths and then slow down my pace of breathing I am able to control things and think about things much more clearly. And more important I feel better.

Anyways, here are a couple links to some cool sites on the topic:
http://breathing.com/
http://www.abc-of-yoga.com/pranayama/home.asp
http://www.breathwork.be/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=30