As a yoga teacher, I’ve seen the impact of breathing firsthand – I can tell a student is stressed or struggling when he holds his breath, I can see a student progress in her practice when she tunes into her breath cycle, I can feel the energy shift when the entire class takes a deep breath in and then audibly sighs out.  Our breath is our best super power.

I begin each class by guiding the yogis through three deep, collective breaths.  As a yogi myself, I know that those breaths are sometimes the first conscious, full breaths I’ve taken that day.  Breathing deeply requires mindfulness and practice because our breath will normally continue without any effort.

Those deep breaths are transformative though – they have the power to calm us down, to ground us and to focus our attention on the present moment and in yoga to take us deeper into a pose, which leads to even more transformation.

As powerfully beneficial as a full breath is, not being able to breathe is as powerfully harmful.  Those feelings of centeredness, mindfulness and peace are replaced with anxiety, fear and stress.  For those of us with asthma, myself included, a shallow breath when we’re trying for a full one immediately elevates our stress response.  Not being able to breathe is bad enough without being coupled with an activation of our stress hormones which causes even more negative changes at the cellular level.

The benefits of ADAMM from a breathing standpoint are clear.  However, understanding and easily monitoring asthma have far reaching effects on our overall wellbeing.  Well controlled asthma is empowering and allows us to proactively manage our stress response with deep, steady breaths.  Those full breaths serve as a catalyst for us to relax, reframe and ultimately release what holds us back from our best lives.  Benefits so incredible, only a super power could realize them.

Like what Meg had to say? Check out more of her blogs at www.megburtontudman.com