Optimal Breathing for Optimal Living: A System for a Healthier Life
If asked to name the things in our lives that we take most for granted, many of us would probably mention such things as family and friends, a roof over our head, food in our cupboards, the beauty of a sunset, and the laugh of a child. Few would probably think to mention the “mere” act of being able to breathe, yet we die from lack of oxygen far quicker than we do from lack of water, food, love, or money. However, any one who is fortunate enough to partake in Michael Grant White’s “The Optimal Breathing System®” will never again refer to breathing as anything less than the first critical step towards living a long and healthy life.
If you’re tempted to stop reading this review right about now because you’re thinking, “Why in the world would I spend precious time ‘studying’ breathing when it’s something that my brain and body already knows how to do all on its own?” I truly do understand. Think about it for just a few minutes longer, though. Our bodies also know how to process food, but if we don’t provide them with food “correctly,” our health will obviously be less than optimal. It’s the old “garbage in, garbage out” scenario. If we can take the time to learn about proper nutrition, we also owe it to ourselves to take the time to learn about the most critical function that our body is capable of doing–breathing in fresh air and expelling the toxins from within.
As White himself states, “the bigger the breath the bigger the life, [but] breathing is a skill you need to develop.” He has spent thirty years of his life finding his own breath and voice and then sharing what he has discovered with the rest of world. Along with optimal breathing, White believes in the healing power of fasting and detoxification, organic raw living foods, toxin free water, sunshine, vitamin and mineral supplements, and weight control. He also incorporates “key elements of Christianity, Hatha, Tibetan and Kundalini Yoga, Pranayama, Chi Kung, massage and bodywork therapy, meditation, chanting, toning, operatic and public speaking training, and nutrition” into this work. Backed up by an almost endless number of studies and very interesting medical findings, all intermixed with the numerous topics listed above, White helps us to quickly understand why it’s so important to not just breathe, but to learn to breathe optimally–both correctly and completely.
This isn’t just a bunch of facts and figures being spewed forth to convince you to purchase the various products that are part of The Optimal Breathing System® that White has devised. White himself stresses that there are basic fundamentals that one should learn, and then and only then should one move on to learning the intermediate and advanced aspects of breathing, if one so chooses. Free breathing tests, a Secrets of Optimal Breathing Manual, the Fundamentals of Optimal Breathing Development DVD, and the Optimal Breathing School (for individuals as well as “touch and non-touch healers”) are just a sample of the offerings within this program.
Why does the topic of breathing garner my attention and The Optimal Breathing System® gain my vote of approval? I’ve been blessed to have experienced the absolute joy of what it feels like to have taken what I would call a “true breath” while undergoing an acupuncture treatment, only to be left wondering how to carry such a feeling through every day of my life. White makes me believe that it is possible to do so. On the other end of the spectrum, I have been haunted by the lingering sight of watching my father die from lung cancer as I sat there wondering if there was some way we could have prolonged his life and improved his comfort level through various breathing techniques. I now believe that we could have.
I seriously plan to dedicate some time and energy on re-learning how to breathe. Too many times I have caught myself “holding my breath” for no apparent reason. I cannot imagine the toll that will have on my body over the course of time. Perhaps White says it best when he says, “the way you breathe can make you sick or make you well.” To breathe is to live, so it only makes sense that to breathe optimally is to live optimally. I not only desire that, I deserve it. Don’t you?
To learn more about Michael Grant White’s The Optimal Breathing System®, visit The Breathing Store. We suggest you begin with the basic breathing development products.
If you would like, you can also experience a Free Breathing Test.
Donna McLaughlin Schwender is the “soul proprietor” of One-Eared Dog, Ink. As a freelance writer living in upstate New York, she can be reached at schwender@aol.com.
