7 Basic Things You Won't Believe You're All Doing Wrong

You would think that it would be impossible that we would be doing something as simple as breathing wrong, right. But according to this site, and backed by some pretty impressive science, you are doing a lot of things wrong.  I'll let you read about how you are going to the bathroom wrong or sleeping wrong. Let me tell you why you are breathing wrong. I had my annual checkup at the doctor's office yesterday (I'm fine, by the way), and at one point he asked me to take a deep breath. When I did I noticed that my chest expanded, then contracted when I exhaled. Unfortunately it shouldn't be your chest that is moving when you breathe, but your stomach.     

"When upright, most people are habitual chest breathers: We use a shallow form of respiration that makes use of only the top part of the lungs. In reality, most of the blood vessels that take up oxygen are in the bottom, neglected half. Since so much lung power is going to waste, we get less oxygen, and as a result, we're all breathing more rapidly than nature intended us to."   

"It turns out that breathing is one area in which babies are much smarter than you. Babies use a deeper type of respiration called abdominal breathing, which strengthens and makes full use of their diaphragms. It's only as we grow older that we revert to the more inefficient style. Luckily, you can train your body to go back to breathing properly, and over time, you can even breathe abdominally in your sleep."    

"To practice it, try to "inflate" your stomach as you breathe in, while keeping your chest relatively still. Then contract your abdominal muscles on the exhale. Not only will this give you more oxygen per breath, it will eventually strengthen the diaphragm. A stronger diaphragm means you get more oxygen with each breath, so your brain won't need to divert any away from your muscles, meaning that you get tired less easily."      

So, after you fix the way you are breathing, that only leaves six things you are still doing wrong.  Luckily, summer is coming up and we all have more free time in summer (we're not wasting time putting on coats and lacing up those boots, after all). So get to work. I expect a progress report from each of you at the end of the summer, telling me you're now doing these things correctly.  Especially, pooping, for heaven's sake.