Time To Breathe

By: Libby Young

Our brains on average make up only 2 percent of our total body weight. But did you 

know that it uses 25 percent of our body’s total oxygen? The kidneys use only 12 

percent and the heart, a meager 7 percent. 

Coined phrases like “Remember to breathe” or “Just breathe” have become more 

emotional placaters than they have biological reminders. Breathing is mental and 

emotionally soothing. It’s been proven to lower stress and reduces anxiety 

drastically and immediately. Breathing to get through pain, breathing to ease a 

crisis, breathing to calm the soul, and so on, is very important. But let’s also not 

forget to breathe for our bodies. 

“Of all the essential nutrients needed by the human, oxygen is the one we must have 

on a moment to moment basis. We can’t live without it even for a few minutes, yet, 

this is the one nutrient most people don’t associate with deficiency problems. 

Nothing could be further from the truth.”    -Raymond Francis

Think about the function of your brain. A little bit of play on words, but thinking is 

not our brains only function. Our brain is the operation system of our body. Of 

course it’s responsible for things like language, creativity, imagination, memory, and 

processing; but its more important role is the complete functionality of our bodies. 

Without our brains our bodies wouldn’t work. Our hearts won’t beat, our stomachs 

won’t digest, our blood won’t flow, much less the millions of other inner workings of 

our wonderful bodies are capable of. So what fuels our brains? Well we know at 

lease 25 percent oxygen does. 

Breathing has become so subconscious for us, that we don’t even realize how 

shallow or fast we breathe on any given day. We have become oxygen deficient. So 

while we might not remember every minute or even every hour to stop and breathe 

fully and slowly, breathe when you can. Establish a pattern of every morning taking 

5 minutes to take deep, slow breaths. Repeat it at night before sleeping. You might 

be surprised how quickly this can become a habit. Breathe when you remember to, 

in the middle of a meeting, on your lunch break, when listening to a friend. The great 

part about it is that no one will even notice! 

Let’s help our bodies by helping our brains. Keep using breath for emotional 

support, but take time in the day to breathe for our physical health as well. Enrich 

yourself with much needed oxygen; your brains will thank you for it!