This is one of the many misconceptions in the breath practice world. I mean the volume of 'breathwork teachers' that I see and hear encourage folk to "breathe in more as this will oxygenate your body" thinking this is accurate is really very sad.
Gulping air, sucking it in, taking more breaths and deep breaths is NOT oxygenating the body. It's just not. It's not physiologically / biologically possible.
And it comes from a lack of understanding about how our Breath actually works in our body. And a whole bunch of 'but it's always been that way'. That keeps the mis-information flowing.
If Not, Then Why Not?
Taking "more breaths" or "continuous circular breath patterns" does NOT mean breathing in more oxygen. And here is why.
Now the main reason requires a more detailed description of the actual respiratory process than I'll deal with now. The one that involves both a gas exchange and a chemical exchange. The one where the oxygen that we need to function in any given moment, actually comes from the oxygen ALREADY STORED in our body. (And this more detailed outline is shared in the other Article on this topic).
But let's at least get the key facts of the matter to help with your "Ahaaa" moment.
Firstly, there is a critical need to understand that we breathe in air, not pure oxygen. In fact Oxygen makes up about 20% (1/5th) of what we inhale.
Secondly, we don't "breathe air into our body". As in, the whole body as many people seem to have forgotten. Especially those that were asleep in High School Biology. We breathe air into our Lungs. And it goes from there.
Finally, it's NOT Oxygen that moves around our body by itself. This myth of taking deep breaths and somehow the oxygen in the air is mysteriously going straight to all our vital organs, converting into energy so we can function. Is another sad mis-conception.
Oxygen does not move around the body in little pockets of air. It is a gas. Our body is a liquid - mainly water. So how does a gas move through fluid? It has to be transported inside other fluid.
And what fluid transports oxygen around the body. Bueller. Bueller. Anyone. Anyone. Yep, it's our blood.
Just at rest, in normal daily functioning, our blood in situ already carries between 95-99% Oxygen. Our blood oxygen saturation levels (SpO2) are already at nearly 100%. As in - they're full. Couldn't take on any more oxygen if we tried.
If we didn't have this saturation level of nearly 100% all the time, then we would all be operating like sloths. Literally. Barely moving. Having to constantly convert gas into energy so our entire body could function 'just a little bit'. Not the case thankfully - phew!
Therefore believing that just by taking deeper breaths or breathing more somehow oxygenates your body is like saying "let's fill an already full glass and we will get more in it".
It's a Chemical Release Thing
Breathing in AIR is very different to RELEASING oxygen to our vital organs.
Increased 'oxygenation' only improves our functioning through oxygen release to our vital organs - our brains and muscles. Not from simply 'breathing more'.
Oxygen release happens through changes in our bloods pH levels. In fact, increased levels of carbon dioxide as a result of LESS breaths, slower breaths and more Conscious breaths. Actually results in increased oxygen being released from the blood to our vital organs allowing us to function.
So Now You Know - The next time you hear someone tell you taking more breaths. Or deeper breaths. Or continuous breaths will "oxygenate your body". You now know this to be bubkiss. And you have a basic understanding that it's a chemical release that gets more oxygen into your body. And this is in fact, greatly aided by slower, more conscious breaths.
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