When I’m faced with a difficult problem, I just relax and take a deep breath. It won’t provide me with any new knowledge, but it will improve the quality of my thinking.

Breathing is a beneficial practice because:

1. It’s an ancient technique for meditation and gaining higher levels of spirituality
2. You oxygenate/rejuvenate your body AND mind, because your cells run on oxygen (cellular respiration in the mitochondria)

Breathing will calm you down, wake you up, and re-fuel your body.

When you’re tired from running/exercising, you need to stop and breathe. If you don’t have enough oxygen, you’ll get tired and sore. Refuel your O2! (See: Lactic acid fermentation) Your brain can get tired for the same reason.

Breathing is helpful on the physical, mental, and spiritual levels.
Get ready for etymology.
The word “respiration” commonly refers to breathing, while its root “spir-” refers to “spirit.” To be “inspired” is to be filled with the spirit. To “respire” means to breathe, and bring more spirit into you. When you “expire” then you have no more breath, and the spirit has left you.
#rootwords #prefixes

But not all breathing is equal… here’s the technique: you have to breathe deep.

“Breathe from the navel, ’cause that’s where you’re able”
[…]
“If you don’t, then you’re breathing shallow, and your thoughts are shallow.”
– MC Akbar

Breathing is a great psychological anchor because your breath is always with you.

Air is like water.

Breathing is like flowing water.

If you stop breathing, you become a more closed system. Like stagnated water. Nothing flowing in or out.

But if you keep breathing, keep air flowing, and focus on your breathing, you keep the airways cleaner, like flowing water. It will improve the clarity and quality of your thinking. So if ever you feel tense, just take a deep breath, feel that air flow through you, feel the oxygen being converted to energy, and re-center yourself.