Breathing is an essential process of a human’s existence: you will not survive for more than five minutes without getting some air into your body. The air is necessary for all systems to function, as it participates in blood and nutrition exchange, brain functioning, and the whole body’s development. It is easy to take a breath, yet the system that allows the body to do it is complicated. To breathe, in general, is to inhale fresh air and exhale used air, and multiple organs are involved in the process.
The main breathing organs are the lungs: each human has the left and right lung that receive air and manage to take it to proper systems and places. There are many nerves, vessels, and tissues around the lungs that help them operate, and ribs are the shield for them. There are millions of alveoli inside the lungs, and they collect the air and take it to blood cells. It is the primary way of air moving throughout the body. Moreover, the lungs contain the bronchial system that regulates the air’s temperature and filters the odds of it. The lungs are connected with the mouth and nose, organs that can transfer air into a body, through the throat. It contains the muscles that initiate breathing and has a tube structure to lead the air to the lungs with optimal speed. The whole system cooperates because of the nerves inside it that get the signals from the brain to inhale or exhale.
With the knowledge of the breathing system’s components, the process of working with air can be described. First of all, a breath begins with inhalation as it brings the necessary air to the body. When humans inhale, their stomach expands to include more air, the lungs get to the position prepared to operate, and the throat muscles help them swallow some air. The nose that is commonly used for inhalation contains hair that filters dirt from air. Then, it goes through the throat, where the nerves send signals for the lungs to get ready. Moreover, the throat and then the bronchial system adapt the air according to such body conditions as temperature. Once the air reaches the lungs, it settles in the alveoli that then send it to blood.
The second half of breathing is exhalation that throws the used air out of the body. The fresh air that humans consume is called oxygen, and the used one is carbon dioxide. The main organs responsible for their exchange are alveoli, as the process takes place inside them. During inhaling, alveoli bring oxygen to the blood and then take out carbon dioxide from it. The used air is forced to leave the lungs because of muscles that create pressure for the movement. These muscles relax and decrease the volume of lungs so that carbon dioxide has no place to stay. The air goes up in the throat and leaves the body through mouth, nose, or both. Humans inhale and exhale unconsciously as the brain regulates this vital process on the reflexive level.
The most common technique used for breathing is to do so through the nose. This organ’s function is to filter the dirt from the air, and the throat muscles create better pressure for inhaling. However, humans, who can inhale through the nose, and exhale through the mouth and vice versa, use only the nose or only the mouth for inhaling and exhaling. Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth makes the brain more focused so that the air’s whole movement can be felt. Inhaling through the mouth is not natural, yet sometimes it is used if the nose cannot operate. However, exhaling through the mouth lets more air out and positively impacts the lungs and muscles involved. To conclude, the two best techniques to practice while breathing are doing it all through the nose, or inhaling with the nose and exhaling with the mouth.
It is necessary to be sure that air passages are free to get the air for breathing through the nose. Then, once the stomach and throat muscles create pressure, and the lungs expand, the nose sucks oxygen into the body. Exhalation happens right after, because the muscles work again and lungs straighten, so carbon dioxide naturally leaves the body. The average duration of one breath is around five seconds, one of which is inhalation, and the others – exhalation. The technique of breathing through the nose and mouth is more time-consuming. The same actions need to be repeated during inhalation through the nose, yet exhalation through the mouth requires more force and involves lips and tongue. Mouth exhalation is long because the lungs are straightening slower; it usually takes up to ten seconds to breathe this way.
Humans breathe without thinking because they need to circulate air, yet the algorithm of this action can be revised and become more conscious. While doing it step-by-step, one can feel the impact of breathing on their body’s functionality. Moreover, proper techniques of breathing can improve health and wellness as the oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange participates in almost every process of life.