Turtle Breathing – ACTION PLAN FOR LONGEVITY

A longevity practice called Turtle Breathing developed from observing and understanding the habits of turtles. It is an excruciatingly slow deep breath, easy to learn but hard to master.

We breathe 20% less oxygen as we grow older or when we are sedentary in our activities.

We breathe 14 - 16 breaths a minute for a resting adult – or 21,000 - 23,000 a day. By the time we reach 30, we will have inhaled and exhaled roughly 250 million times.

Around six breaths a minute is the frequency that bring about markedly greater relaxation – a rhythm found in the repetitive actions of spiritual practices. As humans slow their respiratory rate to about six breaths per minute, that frequency translates to about 0.1Hertz.

These waves appear to oscillate around 0.1 Hertz, while some key pulmonary receptors are only activated during deep breaths. When we inhale and exhale at 0.1 Hertz, it has the potential to align the rhythm of these mechanisms with our heart rate.  “When you breathe at that same rate, it’s like pushing the swing at the perfect moment,”.

When we breathe in, we are not just inhaling air, we add fresh energy to our body and mind. This energy is healing and rejuvenating, it revitalizes and nourishes the system. Similarly, when we breathe out, we are not just exhaling air, but also the toxins from our body and mind.

Turtle breathing, also known as kuei hsi or "swallowing the breath," aims to mimic the slow, deliberate breathing of the tortoise, which is a symbol of longevity in China. Using the tortoise breathing technique, with time and practice you should be able to comfortably slow down your breathing rate to three or four breaths per minute.

When ancient Indian practitioners practiced their mind and body in nature, they accidentally discovered that various animals and plants have natural methods of healing, relaxing, sleeping or staying awake. Healed naturally without any treatment. Therefore, ancient Indian yogis created a series of beneficial exercise systems based on animal posture observation, imitating and personal experience, including breathing exercise methods. 

Yogic philosophy says our lifespan doesn't depend on the number of days we live but on the number of breaths we take. This means the "slower we breathe, the longer we live".

So, breathe slowly and add more years to your life.

Our emotions play a vital part too in our breathing patterns. You breathe differently when you are angry, sad, happy or excited. Breathing is very rapid and shallow when we are angry or excited. So, who does it? Obviously, the brain is the posterior part of the cerebrum; the thinking guru.

How to do tortoise breathing exercise:

The following are the steps that you can follow to efficiently do a tortoise breathing exercise. These will help you a lot in clearing your concept of how tortoises breathe? also how they do their breathing exercises.

Steps:

• Start by calming yourself either by sitting or lying. Now take a deep and slow breath until you feel the air to your neck.

• Now mimic the process of swallowing and swallow the inhaled breath.

• Now blow the air out through your nose, don’t use your mouth slowly and deeply. Repeat the above three steps eight times.

• Now it may sound corny but you have to keep going. Now you have to swallow your saliva after the eighth breath and keep swallowing it by collecting your saliva through your tongue.

Benefits of deep breathing:

• How tortoises breathe? The better you breathe more the energy you can feel in yourself.

• It reduces depression, anxiety and pressure you feel on your body and makes you think more deeply.

• Deeper breaths also promote better digestion.

• The deeper breathing makes you live more at the moment. It enables you to connect with the present situation.

Finding the Calm

Many slower, deeper breathing exercises appear to help people activate their parasympathetic nervous system, associated with calm and rest, and deactivate their sympathetic nervous system, associated with fight-or-flight responses.

Help with finding calmness and peace in phases of high stress.

Increase confidence, self-image, and self-esteem & increase joy and happiness.

When the energy is flowing through your body, you are releasing the old and welcoming in the new and healing happens effortlessly.

Inference

Breath has always been the most underestimated thing. Luckily, it’s changing now. All you need is a pair of lungs, and some discipline.  We may begin to exchange energy with nature consciously, and gain control over our physical and mental functions. To solve this mystery of nature you must reflect deeply, open your sensibilities, and practice diligently. Be patient and persistent. If you are sincere, one day you will re-discover in every breath the immense power now dormant within you.

Small and fresh change can enliven you and create a new and exciting outlook on life.