The Importance of Proper Breathing

Your breath does way more than just keep you alive. The respiratory system is constantly

working to exchange gases, filter harmful particles, and maintain the perfect pH balance

in your blood. Every time you inhale, tiny hairs called cilia trap dust and bacteria before

they reach your lungs. Your body takes in oxygen and releases carbon dioxide roughly

twenty thousand times a day without you even thinking about it. The diaphragm,

a dome shaped muscle below your lungs, does most of the heavy lifting by contracting and

relaxing to pull air in and push it out. Your lungs contain about three hundred

million tiny air sacs called alveoli where oxygen transfers into your bloodstream. When you exercise,