Why Do We Take Breathing For Granted?

Breathing is Automatic
We take the breath for granted; that it is automatic and will always persist, uninterrupted day and night.  But precisely because breathing does not require our attention it can be hard to understand “why”.  
Yoga And Breathing
Yoga instructs us to learn to breathe with greater awareness.  When the breath is properly trained it becomes an effective therapeutic tool; always present, effective in prevention of emotional stressors and restorative. First the need to consciously learn to regulate and develop a rhythmical breath for a maximum outcome is required. All it takes is the merest voluntary effort and a conscious change in the way we breathe.
Unconscious Breath
Breathing normally without conscious awareness occurs outside our mind’s awareness. The breathe is governed by certain cells that measures blood gas levels, which create a crude rhythm of respiration that coordinates the activity of the respiratory muscles.  All of which makes breathing smoother and effective.  Just imagine all the inhalations and exhalations passing some 21,600 times in just one day; and that is with out any breaks. Pretty amazing.  We ask “Why not take the breath for granted?” This is why not.  It is a gift that keeps giving and most of the time we do not acknowledge it.
By: Diana Ross, E-RYT 500
Founder: Breast Cancer Yoga