Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Good morning and welcome to Episode 028 of the Train Your Brain Podcast with Dr. Michael Trayford. Every Monday we produce a 30-minute episode. Tuesday through Sunday we produce episodes with five-minute tips. Every episode of the Train Your Brain Podcast features a tip, so you can receive pointers 365 days a year that will help enhance the performance of your brain!

In Episode 028, Dr. Trayford reminds us of the importance of breathing, even and especially while we are concentrating very hard. Don’t forget to breathe or you’ve already lost the fight! You’ll love today’s show!

If you have any concerns regarding the information and applications discussed in this podcast, please consult your physician and a doctor who is experienced in functional neurology. Michael Trayford DC, DACNB is available for consultation by calling (828) 708-5274. Thanks for listening.

This is a very simple one, but almost everybody forgets to do. We see this on a daily basis in our office, under our roof and we are forever struggling to get people to do this type of thing.

So simply don’t forget to breathe. Right? We’ve gotta do it!

It sounds simple enough, but don’t forget to breathe. As I’m doing this podcast It comes to my mind quite a bit because, as I’m talking I’m realizing just how little breathing I’m doing. I’m getting better at it. 28th episode in and I’m starting to find my air a little bit better and the points where I can take air.

Whether we’re metal tasking, physical tasking, we need to breathe. We always see if we’re having somebody do an eye exercise or a balance exercise, or taking a cognitive test. What’s the first thing people do?

Jason: They’ll kind of hold their breath in order to concentrate harder.
Yeah, and that’s something I’ll never figure out, because intuitively speaking my brain would tell me that if I hold my breath, I’m probably not going do as well as if I continue to breathe.

Jason: This reminds me I have a martial arts instructor, I’ve taken martial arts for a number of years and he would always say when we are sparing or practicing, he would say. Make sure you breathe! Because if you stop breathing, you’ve already lost the fight, because you can’t live if you don’t breathe.

That is so-so true. And I’m just as guilty of it as the next person. I take martial arts as well. I’ve been told by my instructor. I’m going through physical therapy right now from a back injury that I had and they are forever telling me to breathe. Particularly when I’m doing an exercise that involves balance. And that’s what we see a lot of time with our clients.

If they’re standing on one leg and trying to maintain balance and they’re closing their eyes and doing different things to stress their balance system. Breathing stops.

And we can breathe through pretty much anything. Even if we’re doing sit-ups we can breathe through the exercise. Even though you’re contracting those stomach muscles. You can still breathe through that.

So it’s incredibly important, because at the time we need it the most, whether we’re thinking a thought which takes a lot of oxygen and sugar, or moving a muscle, which takes a lot of oxygen and sugar, we need fuel to get to that particular part of the body.

We have to breathe appropriately. Aerobic activity means using oxygen to do that particular activity. So jogging and things like that, people can become so much more productive at what they’re doing if they simply learn how to breathe appropriately through the course of the activity.

It’s different for every activity and we can’t get into the specifics here, you can talk to different trainers, athletic trainers, physical therapists, martial arts instructors, yoga instructors are incredible at helping you the breathe through activities.

So it’s just a matter of finding somebody that’s versed in that type of thing in your area and really just start the process. When you’re doing things, think about breathing. I can’t stress that enough.

Links for this episode:

Learn more at APEX Brain Centers.com

Read the APEX Brain Centers BLOG

Follow us on Facebook

On Google Plus

Follow APEX Brain Centers on Twitter

And here is the Twitter handle for this podcast: @BrainPodcast365

Visit our YouTube Channel