Normally, breathing happens automatically. But we can control our breath, by directing the movement of our diaphragm and mouth. And the benefits are significant and wide-reaching.
Your blood’s natural limit to how much oxygen it can hold means you can’t stockpile it.
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Final school exams are typically seen as a very intense period of preparation. But it is also important to rest during this time if you want to maximise your performance.
Wildfire smoke filled the air at Chicago’s Wrigley Field on June 27, 2023.
AP Photo/Kim Johnson
Fires in Canada have sent smoke across several US states, leaving cities including New York, Chicago and Denver with some of the worst air quality in the world – even far from the flames.
Kate Winslet promoting ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ in London in December 2022. Winslet held her breath for over seven minutes during filming of the movie.
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Kate Winslet held her breath for an impressive 7 minutes and 15 seconds while filming, but the current world record is over 24 minutes. Here’s how people learn to stay underwater for extended periods of time.
Activating the somatosensory cortex may help us connect to our bodies, develop our sensitivity, sensuality and capacity to feel pleasure.
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The brain’s somatosensory cortex may help enrich our emotional experiences and improve our mental health. Mindfulness and dance movement therapy may be effective ways to activate it.
Sung Han, University of California, San Diego and Shijia Liu, University of California, San Diego
Opioids can cause death by slowing breathing to dangerously low levels, or stopping it altogether. Examining one area of the brain may eventually lead to safer painkillers.
Hundreds of active oil wells are hiding in plain sight across the Los Angeles area.
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Photos from the early 1900s show LA’s forests of oil derricks. Hundreds of wells are still pumping, and new research finds people living nearby are struggling with breathing problems.
Eryn Jean Norvill in Sydney Theatre Company’s The Picture of Dorian Gray.
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Theatre and audiences are slowly beginning to share the same airspace again. We are freshly conscious of breath, but it has always been intimately linked with the dramatic arts.
‘Smartphone pinky’ is just the latest injury caused by excessive smartphone use.
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It’s almost impossible to be without a smartphone these days – but the way we hold and sit while using them can cause an array of physical health problems.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is the third leading cause of death in the United States.
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The body has many natural defenses against viruses and other pathogens. One antiviral molecule produced in the body is nitric oxide and it is created when we breathe in through the nose.
Physiotherapists can help improve a patient’s breathing.
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Controlled coughing can help people with cystic fibrosis, under supervision and in hospital. But when done at home, it could help spread the coronavirus.
The change in CDC guidance comes in response to new research on how the new coronavirus can spread.
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The CDC now recommends that everyone wear a face covering when they go into a public place. But there’s confusion about why and if this protects the wearer, people around them or both.
Research Leader in Respiratory cellular and molecular biology at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research and Professor, Faculty of Science, University of Technology Sydney