- For the play Breath by Samuel Beckett, see Breath (play).
Breath(e) is one of the few bodily functions which can be controlled both consciously and unconsciously. This is one reason why attention to it is common in many forms of meditation, specifically anapana. It brings us oxygen, more important to us than food or water; without it we would die in minutes. Breathing is therefore clearly the most important process one has to carry out in order to live; we need the oxygen from breathing to carry out vital internel processes inside our complex bodily network, not least respiration. However, only 20% of the air is oxygen, not particularly much considering the hugely vast population our Earth is able to dwell. Most of the air surrounding us is nitrogen, which is explicitly not needed for anything within human bodies. Carbon dioxide is also present as one of the compound gases that constitutes another part of the air, and this gas is produced as a by-product of respiration. All gases apart from oxygen are exhaled during breathing. The composition of the air around the world may vary, for example at high altitudes there is insufficient oxygen for one's body to work normally, and the increasing effect of global warming means unnatural gases are being released into the atmosphere via unnatural processes. This hinders the act of breathing. Moisture levels in the air vary also, but after breathing the air that is exhaled is always damp due to the gas diffusing across the moist respiratory surface of alveoli.
Breath is often used as a metaphor for life itself, and time of death is sometimes thought to be at the moment when breath stops (although countless people have 'come back' to life after breathing stops). If we do not inhale oxygen for a certain amount of time (this varies from person to person around the world) our lungs "explode" as one could phrase it. In the prelude to this, our heart beats slower and slower, eventually stopping at the impact of death. The blood is shut off from the least important parts of the body, namely the fingers, toes, arms and legs, resulting in the large majority of the blood being transported to the vital organs. The common instinct would be for your body to breathe if this happens for longer than it intends. However, this cannot happen underwater for instance, where even if one tries to breathe the lungs fill up with water.
Laughter, physically, is simply repeated sharp breaths; there is no consensus in psychology on its purpose. Hiccups are another still-mysterious breath-related phenomenon.
Respiration and gas exchange discuss breathing as a biological function.
Breathing in is known as inhaling. Breathing out is known as exhaling. Inhaling is an active movement and has to be controlled therefore. Exhaling is a passive movement and just happens as an involuntary process after the act of inhaling, however.
In music, breath is used to play wind and brass instruments and many aerophones.
Breathing while exercising is important, as it allows you to exercise for a longer period of time due to the increased amount of oxygen being delivered to your muscles. Depth of breathing increases during exercise, particularly when it's vigorous, and the amount of breaths also increase with increasing exercise.
An average 13/14 year old takes around 50400 breathes per day, thats 18396000 per year.
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