Volume 1, Number 13 • June 2011

Habit #13:
Inhale Deeply, Exhale Slowly
One of the great secrets to your health is right under your nose.
Literally!
Let me surprise you: A lot of people are sick because they don’t know
how to breathe. Their breathing is lazy. Their body is starved of oxygen!
Most diseases are linked to the lack of oxygen in our cells. Remember that
germs can’t live in a highly oxygenated environment. But without enough
rich oxygen entering our system, we allow more germs and toxins to populate
our body.

Here’s the crazy part about this Habit. We don’t do it because it’s so
simple. We like complicated solutions. We like buying an expensive pill or
visiting a doctor or getting some treatment in a hospital.

But breathing is so simple, you don’t need anything! No contraption,

no gadgets, no special clothes, no pills, no treatments…

How much does it cost? Zero.

So subconsciously, people think, “If it’s that simple, it might not work…”

Wrong. I’ve come to believe that the simplest solutions are the best solutions.

Like most people I know, chances are very high that you’ve forgotten how to breathe well. I know I did.
For decades, I was breathing wrongly.
What is “real” breathing?
Watch a sleeping baby and you’ll see healthy breathing: When the baby inhales, her abdomen puffs up
like a balloon.
Most likely, you don’t do that anymore. Constant stress has trained you to breathe in the wrong way.
Research says that as we get older, our breathing becomes quick and shallow. Some people call it lazy
breathing.
There are three types of breathing:
1. Upper Chest Breathing

Do you take short, quick, shallow breaths in your upper chest area? Many smokers have this kind of
breathing. Very old and sickly people breathe this way too.
Disclaimer:
Neither the author, the publisher nor any of their respective affiliates make any guarantee or other promise as to any results that may be obtained from using this Report.
No reader should make any health decision without first consulting his or her own personal physician and conducting his or her own research and due diligence. To the
maximum extent permitted by law, the author, the publisher and their respective affiliates disclaim any and all liability in the event that any information, commentary,
analysis, opinions, advice and/or recommendation in this book proves to be inaccurate, incomplete or unreliable or result in any detrimental health condition.

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 Volume 1, Number 13 • June 2011

2. Middle Chest Breathing

Check your breathing. Do your lower ribs expand with each breath? Put your fingers on your ribs and
breathe. If they move, that means your breathing is Middle Chest Breathing. Many people fall in this
category.

3. Abdominal Breathing

This is “real” breathing. Also called Diaphragm breathing.

It’s easy to find out if you’re doing it or not. Lie down flat
on your back. Put your hand on your abdomen. Inhale and
check if your abdomen rises (like you’re pregnant). If it
does, that’s abdominal breathing.

What “Real” Breathing Can Do for You

When you breathe properly, wonderful things happen:

• You increase blood and lymph circulation.

• You detoxify your body (Yes!).
• You oxygenate your organs.
• You relax yourself.
• You release tension.
• You remove stress.
• You clear your mind.
• You increase your vitality.

All that from simple breathing done rightly?

You bet.
Do you see what you’re missing?
Let me teach you how to breathe in the right way.

Do Breathing Exercises Morning and Evening

Here’s Habit #13.

Do breathing exercises when you wake up and before you sleep. I repeat: It’s so simple, you’ll be tempted
to ask yourself, “That’s it? This tiny exercise will make me healthier?”
Absolutely. It’s the small things—done every day—that will be your ticket to health.
It has three simple steps: Inhale-Hold-Exhale.
When you wake up, don’t stand up yet. Lie down flat on your back and place your hand on your abdomen.
Using your nostrils, inhale deeply for five seconds, expanding your abdomen like a balloon. Hold for five seconds.
And through your mouth this time, exhale slowly for another five seconds. I call this the 5-5-5 Breathing Exercise.
(You deepen your inhalation by exhaling completely.)

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 Volume 1, Number 13 • June 2011

Repeat for five times—and that’s it!

Don’t be too obsessed with the exact number of seconds.
Once you get used to it, and your abdominal, chest, and back muscles get used to “real” breathing, you’ll
be able to increase the time intervals. After doing a 5-5-5, you can do a 7-7-7, or a 10-10-10. Some Yogis who
work on their breathing can even do a 20-20-20. That means they only take one breath per minute!
Do this breathing exercise before you sleep too. While you lie on your back, do the cycle five times. You’ll
be so relaxed, you might fall asleep before the exercise is over. That’s okay!

Do the Breathing Exercises During the Day

Whenever I want to relax, or I have a couple of extra minutes

before a meeting, or while I wait for a website to load (when the
Internet is slow), or while I wait for someone—I simply close my
eyes and do it.
It’s a fantastic way to de-stress and relax.
Even while seated, I place my hand on my abdomen and do
three or four cycles. Same thing: I suck air, feeling my abdomen rise,
hold it, and exhale completely.
While inhaling, you should feel your abdomen puff up (like
you’re pregnant).
Later on, when you know how to breathe, you no longer have
to put your hand on your abdomen. The hand is merely a training
guide when you start doing it.

Inhale God’s Love, Exhale Man’s Stress

I use my imagination when I do my breathing exercises.

So not only does it have a physical power, it also has an emotional and spiritual power to it as well. (The
combination is fantastic.)
Here’s how I do it.
When I inhale, I imagine breathing in God’s love. God’s peace. God’s healing. God’s power. I let my body
be overwhelmed by God’s presence.
When I exhale, I imagine breathing out my stress. My tension. My worries. My fears. I feel all that
negative stuff drain out of me.
I use this same imagination when I do my Tai Chi every morning...

Other Ways to Learn “Real” Breathing

I’ve been doing Tai Chi for two years now. Every morning, I take 10 to 15 minutes to do its slow movements.
But Tai Chi is really about breathing.
At the beginning, I wondered if the movements were just an excuse to inhale deeply and exhale slowly for
10 to 15 minutes. Because it was really the breathing that was the primary focus of Tai Chi. (Obviously, the hand
and leg movements are very important too.)

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Recently, I’ve been trying out Bikram Yoga. It’s incredibly

invigorating. For 90 minutes, we do 26 Yoga poses in a very hot room
(105 degrees Fahrenheit or 40.6 degrees Celsius). The heat makes the
muscles flexible. My wife and I have been attending a Bikram Yoga
class two or three times a week.
Reason for taking it? I’ve always been very inflexible. When
I bend, I can’t even touch my toes. Inflexible back muscles means
they’re weak—and can cause back pain. So I’m doing Yoga so I can
make my body more flexible.
But let me go back to my point: Breathing is the secret of
Yoga. And I’m improving my breathing because of it.
By the way, some Christians are allergic to Yoga or Tai Chi.
They lump them in this basket called New Age and throw it away.
But if you simply follow Yoga and Tai Chi as breathing exercises,
you’re okay.
If you want to learn Tai Chi, you can start by buying a Tai Chi
video from a video store. I bought mine for P75 (it was on sale). I just
followed the movements and got the hang of it.
Later on, you can attend various classes and try it out. That
may cost you a bit more, but I believe they’re worth it.

Awaken the Healer in You

One of the powerful keys to awakening the healer in you is in your breath.

De-stress yourself at different times of the day.

Inhale deeply, exhale slowly.

May your dreams come true,

Bo Sanchez

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