The Science of Being Well By Wallace Delois Wattles --- 14 CHAPTER 14. BREATHING

CHAPTER 14. BREATHING

The function of breathing is a vital one, and it is immediately concerns the
continuance of life. We can live many hours without sleeping, and many
days without eating or drinking, but only a few minutes without breathing.
The act of breathing is involuntary, but the manner of it, and the provision of
the proper conditions for its healthy performance, falls within the scope of
volition.
Man will continue to breathe involuntarily, but he can voluntarily determine
what he shall breathe, and how deeply and thoroughly he shall breathe; and
he can, of his own volition, keep the physical mechanism in condition for the
perfect performance of function.
It is essential, if you wish to breathe in a perfectly healthy way, that the
physical machinery used in the act should be kept in good condition. You
must keep your spine moderately straight, and the muscles of your chest
must be flexible and free in action. You cannot breathe in the right way if
your shoulders are stooped forward and your chest hollow and rigid. Sitting
or standing at work in a slightly stooping position tends to produce hollow
chest; so does lifting heavy weights - or light weights.
The tendency of work, of almost all kinds, is to pull the shoulders forward,
curve the spine, and flatten the chest; and if the chest is greatly flattened,
full and deep breathing becomes impossible, and perfect health is out of the
question.
Various gymnastic exercises have been devised to counteract the effect of
stooping while at work; such as hanging by the hands from a swing or
trapeze bar, or sitting on a chair with the feet under some heavy article of
furniture and bending backward until the head touches the floor, and so on.
All these are good enough in their way, but very few people will follow them
long enough and regularly enough to accomplish any real gain in physique.
The taking of "health exercises" of any kind is burdensome and
unnecessary; there is a more natural, simpler, and much better way.
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This better way is to keep yourself straight, and to breathe deeply. Let your
mental conception of yourself be that you are a perfectly straight person,
and whenever the matter comes to your mind, be sure that you instantly
expand your chest, throw back your shoulders, and "straighten up."
Whenever you do this, slowly draw in your breath until you fill your lungs to
their utmost capacity; "crowd in" all the air you possibly can; and while
holding it for an instant in the lungs, throw your shoulders still further back,
and stretch your chest; at the same time try to pull your spine forward
between the shoulders. Then let the air go easily.
This is the one great exercise for keeping the chest full, flexible, and in good
condition. Straighten up; fill your lungs FULL; stretch your chest and
straighten you spine, and exhale easily. And this exercise you must repeat, in
season and out of season, at all times and in all places, until you form a habit
of doing it; you can easily do so.
Whenever you step out of doors into the fresh, pure air, BREATHE. When
you are at work, and think of yourself and your position, BREATHE. When
you are in company, and are reminded of the matter, BREATHE. When you
are awake in the night, BREATHE. No matter where you are or what you are
doing, whenever the idea comes to your mind, straighten up and BREATHE.
If you walk to and from your work, take the exercise all the way; it will soon
become a delight to you; you will keep it up, not for the sake of health, but
as a matter of pleasure.
Do not consider this a "health exercise"; never take health exercises, or do
gymnastics to make you well. To do so is to recognize sickness as a present
fact or a possibility, which is precisely what you must not do. The people
who are always taking exercises for their health are always thinking about
being sick. It ought to be a matter of pride with you to keep your spine
straight and strong; as much so as it is to keep your face clean.
Keep your spine straight, and your chest full and flexible for the same
reason that you keep your hands clean and your nails manicured; because it
is slovenly to do otherwise. Do it without a thought of sickness, present or
possible. You must either be crooked and unsightly, or you must be straight;
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and if you are straight your breathing will take care of itself. You will find the
matter of health exercises referred to again in a future chapter.
It is essential, however, that you should breathe AIR. It appears to be the
intention of nature that the lungs should receive air containing its regular
percentage of oxygen, and not greatly contaminated by other gases, or by
filth of any kind. Do not allow yourself to think that you are compelled to
live or work where the air is not fit to breathe.
If your house cannot be properly ventilated, move; and if you are employed
where the air is bad, get another job; you can, by practicing the methods in
the preceding volume of this series - "The Science Of Getting Rich."
If no one would consent to work in bad air, employers would speedily see to
it that all work rooms were properly ventilated. The worst air is that from
which the oxygen has been exhausted by breathing; as that of churches and
theaters where crowds of people congregate, and the outlet and supply of
air are poor. Next to this is air containing other gasses than oxygen and
hydrogen - sewer gas, and the effluvium from decaying things. Air that is
heavily charged with dust or particles of organic matter may be endured
better than any of these. Small particles of organic matter other than food
are generally thrown off from the lungs; but gases go into the blood.
I speak advisedly when I say "other than food." Air is largely a food. It is the
most thoroughly alive thing we take into the body. Every breath carries in
millions of microbes, many of which are assimilated. The odors from earth,
grass, tree, flower, plant, and from cooking foods are foods in themselves;
they are minute particles of the substances from which they come, and are
often so attenuated that they pass directly from the lungs into the blood,
and are assimilated without digestion.
And the atmosphere is permeated with the One Original Substance, which is
life itself. Consciously recognize this whenever you think of your breathing,
and think that you are breathing in life; you really are, and conscious
recognition helps the process. See to it that you do not breathe air
containing poisonous gases, and that you do not rebreathe the air which has
been used by yourself or others.
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That is all there is to the matter of breathing correctly. Keep your spine
straight and your chest flexible, and breathe pure air, recognizing with
thankfulness the fact that you breathe in the Eternal Life. That is not
difficult; and beyond these things give little thought to your breathing
except to thank God that you have learned how to do it perfectly.