You Are What You Breathe

Walking through the supermarket I wasn’t even aware what was happening. The same thing happened when I was sitting down with the family this weekend and again when I was at work, in that smoke filled room.

Without even my awareness or effort, the most important thing that I do was being done.

I was breathing!

16 breaths a minute totaling 13 pints of air every minute,17,280 breaths a day, 5,000 gallons of air every 24 hours and exhaling 17.5 mL of water each hour. My lungs were doing their life sustaining job, keeping me alive, and naturally expelling toxins that would harm me.

My lungs!

Those amazing, spongy organs on either side of my chest, were processing that air and filtering it through my body. The two bronchi, the 300 million alveoli in each lung, the layer of fluid surrounding each lung (the pleura), and the bronchioles, all preform their duties each and every day with little notice or fanfare. Yet, without them, we would cease to exist. (Although, our human design is so wonderfully planned that we could survive and thrive with just one functioning lung.)

We think of our lungs as being like balloons, filling up with air and releasing it. In fact, that is true. But if you were to open up those spongy balloons, and lay them flat and measure the surface area, you would find them to be as large as a tennis court. The total length of the airways running through them is 1,500 miles!

Your lungs are one of the largest organs in your body. Oh… and they are the only organs in your body that float! But I digress…

It is interesting to note that 70% of the waste in our body is eliminated through our lungs. (again, who knew?)

Which brings us to our title – you are what you breathe.

We breathe in air pollution, smoke, and other toxins that damage our lungs. COPD, Emphysema, Bronchitis, Pneumonia, Asthma or any number of other lung diseases can affect those spongy, filters of ours, making the unnoticed breathing of everyday life much more complicated, debilitating and even scary. Ask one of the 235 million Asthma sufferers if they have ever been scared?

Therefore, keeping healthy, clean lungs is important for life.

Did you know that there are actually ways that you can clean/clear your lungs? I didn’t.

They are: stream therapy – inhaling water vapor to open up the airways, controlled coughing, discharging mucus, exercise, green tea, and anti inflammatory foods. Each of these will provide some level of temporary assistance in clearing out toxins and clearing those tissues and membranes in our lungs.

Can I share one thing? It’s about mucus. As gross as that stuff is, that stuff is powerful! I mean it. It is cleaner than our blood and will actually kill the bacteria it surrounds. Blood will not kill, it allows the bacteria to grow. Mucus traps harmful particles so it can be coughed up and out. Think of that.

Amazing lungs!

Why the lesson on lungs? Consider this.

In what ways can you draw parallels between the toxins and pollutants that you are bombarded with via the news, social media, academia, friends, family, associates, colleagues and your need to breathe clearly? In what ways have the toxic voices in your life acted like COPD on your chest?

Phil Collins, and The Police said it best, “With every breath you take”, you are taking in way more than you need or that is even healthy. If you are finding your breathing labored, you are becoming inflamed with issues, or there is some kind of build up in your spirit or blockage in your peace – (like those that cause lung disease), it is time for a lung cleansing. You need to breathe deeply and clearly and remove those toxins and pollutants from your environment. Your personal survival is dependent on it.

Just like my choice to smoke or not is affecting my physical lungs, in the same way, my choice to expose myself to toxic people and ideas is affecting the clarity and strength of my daily breathing and energy.

Find the time, find a way and place to rid yourself of those deadly pollutants that are damaging you on the inside. Allow your “spiritual mucus” to surround that harmful particle in your life and get it out of you. Your life depends on it.

You are what you breathe and I want you to have a healthy life in every way with every breath you take.

Breathe deeply.

Cheers.

Debbie