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Guest post by: H. Bernard Wechsler Become an Author

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Are 92% of us Shallow Breathers? Speed reading Rules

My first reaction to the headline, and I bet yours is - so what, I'm healthy as a hog.

Shallow breathing means the lower half of your lungs are not getting

enough oxygen causing loss of attention, and weaker comprehension.

The 92% yawn a lot, and fall asleep when reading. They learn to hate reading.

Not enough? Diaphragmatic (deep) breathers learn faster, remember more,

and give outstanding presentations.

History

We got shallow (top) breathers, and no-breathers. That's right, babies, kids and even adults are conditioned to unnaturally hold their breath. It began when our parents first yelled at us to shut up when we screamed in the night. No blame on them, we were keeping them up all-night, and they needed some peace and quiet.

Babies, young kids, and later, conditioned adults, unconsciously hold their breath when they are frightened. Can you remember first grade and how scared you were

the teacher would call on you, and your classmates would make fun of you?

Some of us scrunched down in our seat (bad posture), and 92% were scared to death we would make a fool of ourselves. So what? We developed a coping

(defense) mechanism - when we were afraid we just held our breath for a few moments until the situation changed.

Reading

Reading out loud in class was a traumatic situation, if we made a mistake, some

kid pointed an accusing finger at us, and snickered or called us names. It was bad enough when the teacher corrected us; it was a cannon-shot to our self-confidence, but when our peers jeered, it was a living nightmare. We associated holding our breath with changing the negative situation.

Here's what happened. Later in high school, college, and in our career, we conditioned our selves to hold our breath each time we switch from one sentence to

another. Each new sentence requires a change of attention, and we linked transfer of attention to withholding our breathing.

So what? Holding our breath trains us to take in less oxygen and retain more carbon dioxide. When we read, learn, and think, our brain requires up to 22% additional oxygen than when we are in neutral or just watching tv.

Please get this: your three (3) pound brain under non-learning situations requires

about 23% of all the oxygen you entire body inhales. That's a lot compared to your body weight. Learning, including reading, places additional demands for oxygen on your brain. So? - Stop being a shallow breather, and worse, holding-your-breath.

Solution

Breathing is automatic and subconscious when we are born. Later our environment including our parents, teachers, and peers, and later the media, condition us through repetition to switch to Beta Breathing. Shallow breathing and holding your breath is called Beta Breathing.

If you are ready to increase your IQ, yes really, tower over your peers in school,

and get the best career promotions, learn to breathe Consciously and with Alert Relaxation.

Learning Alpha breathing requires 21 consecutive days of practice, and then it

goes on autopilot. It requires just two elements, remembering to see your belly

(diaphragm) enlarge as you take each inhalation, and maintaining a relaxed (Alpha)

state of mind (attitude).

It requires just a five (5) minutes exercise daily while you are reading, and will improve your cognitive thinking brain for life.

Repeat: when you are reading, studying, and speaking, consciously pay attention to

how you inhale and exhale. If you do not feel and see your abdomen expand with each breath, you are shallow breathing.

Benefits

Have you ever listened to a teacher or lecturer who gasped as he/she spoke? They

were not consumptive, they were Beta Breathers. When you are out of breath as you

speak, you lose your concentration and mental acuity. Your reasoning becomes blurred and weak, even though you are an acknowledged genius in your field.

Your brain is not receiving enough oxygen. You can live without eating for a week, and be without water for up to two days, but how long can you survive without oxygen?

Navy Seals are trained to swim without oxygen for up to 5.02 minutes, but

not you and me, right?

Alpha (diaphragmatic) breathing transports more oxygen to your brain. The benefits: you are wide-awake (alert), you are in your zone (flow), and have peak-

experiences, you think faster, speed read, and improve your long-term memory.

Alpha Breathers exude self-confidence, smile more, and make friends easily. They

have a better complexion because of the extra oxygen, and plain feel better than their peers, the shallow Beta Breathers.

Some Facts

Air contains 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen, and less than 1% carbon dioxide.

Get this: our lungs contain Alveoli (air sacs) for a gas exchange between oxygen and carbon dioxide. There are 480 million Alveoli in each lung. How many?

Yes, scientists used a computer program to count them. We live because of plants

and trees which pour out oxygen, and take in the carbon dioxide we exhale.

Leaves on plants and trees have Stomata, openings on the leaves to release oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide.

Five Exercises to Improve Learning And Memory

The whole thing takes less than five (5) minutes, and it improves your brain functions.

a) Bend your spine forward (fold like an accordion) slowly three-times.

b) Bend your spine left and right three-times in each direction.

c) Elongate yourself - stretch upward and outward three-times.

d) Do five (5) spinal twists - it massages your organs.

e) Bend backwards and up, five (5) times.

Your body will increase the amount of oxygen you inhale when you do these five simple exercises. We suggest you do them for 21 consecutive days for a total of five

(5) Minutes.

Notice how your lower ribs and diaphragmatic muscles move as you practice Alpha Breathing. One thousand students practice these five exercises daily to improve your breathing. More oxygen leads to better brain functions.

Endwords

If you want to double your long-term memory and triple your reading/learning skills, ask us how. Would it help you in your career to read and remember three (3)

books, articles and reports in the time your peers can hardly finish one? Ask us how.

See ya,

Speed Reading Rules

copyright © 2009

H. Bernard Wechsler

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