BREATH (Condensed version of article by Dr Robert Fulford, D.O.)
One cycle of digestion of food normally takes 24 hours. One cycle of respiration takes 3 seconds. During the course of one day we breathe about 28,000 times. The most obvious and the most vital function of our bodies is the function of breathing. We can live without food for weeks; without water for a few days; but, without air, only a few minutes. We can relinquish consciousness as in deep sleep or under anesthesia or under states of catalepsy but we cannot relinquish breathing as long as we are alive. Breathing is the most subtle function of our organism, a function that can be both conscious and unconscious. This is in contrast to most of our other functions such as our heart beat; our blood circulation; our currents of nerve energy; the functions of digestion, assimilation, and secretion, etc. Breathing is the only vital function which is easily accessible to the mind. Due to this double nature, breathing can be made the mediator between body and mind. Thus, the conscious control of breathing affects the electrical polarity of the brain and our bio-physical electromagnetic energy field.
Breathing enlivens and vitalizes the physical body with life energy, and also balances the flow of life energies within the body. The primary conductor for the life energy in our body is the cerebrospinal fluid. The cerebrospinal fluid is ionized by breathing exercises. It is generally believe to be produced by the Choroid Plexuses, located in the ventricles of the brain. The cerebrospinal fluid circulates around the brain, within the spinal cord, and within its nerve fibers. The pumping action, which circulates the cerebrospinal fluid, is created by the cranial bones in the skull, in conjunction with our breathing. So, breathing, both conscious and unconscious, become a vital factor in the flow of cerebrospinal fluid that carries life energy.
Thus balanced breathing is a must for a long, healthy, youthful life. Unbalanced breathing disturbs the sleep pattern. Unequal length of breathing cycles have a very negative effect on the mind, brain, nerves, and body. The unequal length of the cycle causes the unfortunate victim to seek various ways of quieting his screaming nerves, of overcoming his excessive irritability, or eliminating his anxieties.
According to the Philosphy of Osteopathy by A. T. Still, page 39, breathing is a vital factor in the flow of cerebrospinal fluids that carries life energy. Recent research has shown there is a nasal rhythm, which is one of the body rhythms. The nasal rhythm reflects hemisphere activity in the brain. The right nostril dominance goes with the left hemisphere of the brain. The left nostril dominance goes with the right hemisphere of the brain. The breathing must be done through the nostrils, not the mouth. The air must contact the olfactory nerves; if it doesnt, youre only half alive. When the physical body is stressed and one feels fatigued, a deep breath through the nostrils, held for a number of seconds, and suddenly expelled through the nostrils will usually strip the unwanted charges from the body and bring the body to a state of balance and well-being. As a man breathes, so is he.
When life energy is jammed, the breath cannot flow through the body. Many problems of the human body can be traced back to birth. A traumatic birth, e.g. breech birth, Caesarean section, use of forceps, difficult labor, etc. can cause cranial and/or vertebral misalignments in any infant. Red the book, The Babys Cry, by Truby, published in 1978. Truby got his Ph.D. research work on the babys cry in Stockholm, Sweden. He did a study of 15,000 sound and spectrographic analyses. He recorded the moment of the babys first cry and followed up with studies through the first seven years of development. He got a pattern of the growth and development of the personality of the child. From the first breath, or babys cry, he could determine the personality of the child, its weakness and the degree of health and well being.
Cranial faults, or misalignments, can also occur anytime when there is a blow to the head. This blow doesnt necessarily have to result in a knot or bruise on the head. We all knock heads with each other, with cabinets, with car doors, with falls, etc. Cranial or sacral misalignments can interfere with the flow of cerebrospinal fluid thus causing interferences within the nervous system. Respiration is a body rhythm; the cardiovascular system is a body rhythm; and the craniosacral system is a body rhythm. They are independent of each other, but related to and influenced by each other. Where there is interference to the flow of nerve energy there is malfunction. The degree and magnitude of malfunction depends on the degree and magnitude of nerve energy interference.
As David said in Psalms, We are fearfully and wonderfully made. When you consider the fact that the proper flow of cerebrospinal fluid is very important to our brain and our nervous systems, it is reasonable that a cranial fault can and does result in dramatic effects on our bodies.