What Is Respiration

It is interesting to know of what is Respiration (Breathing) Breath - one of the first major physiological functions of the human body, which along with sexual drew the attention of the conscious ancient man. Over the past millennium, this simple, at first glance, the process was overgrown with myths, legends and commonplace errors that are not fully dispersed even today, in an age of intensive study of man and his physiology. Many of them are directly related to the theme of "Training the attention on the breath." So we had to pay the physiology of breathing time to allocate for this purpose in the book. Nadia can be hoped that this result will have a better understanding of all those "games with the breath, which for millennia, until today, offered ignorant people.

Respiration - the process of alternating active inhalation of air into the lungs through the nose or mouth and its passive exhalation back into the surrounding atmosphere. During inhalation the diaphragm, i.e. a large muscle that separates the bodies found in human thorax from the abdomen is reduced, resulting in the volume of the thorax increases, and air is drawn into the lungs. At the same time reduced the intercostal muscles, helping to expand the chest. Bronchi also their smaller branches - the bronchial tubes, at this moment due to relaxation of its own muscles to increase its diameter, thereby reducing the resistance to the incoming air into the lungs.

When you exhale, the reverse is: relax the diaphragm and intercostal muscles helps to reduce the volume of the thoracic cavity and expulsion of air from the lungs. Bronchi and bronchioles at this point is also shrinking, reducing the diameter and the number of shortening, which helps them expulsion from the air. Why breathing is active and expiration is a passive process? The answer lies in the method by which the nervous system controls the breathing process.

Main governing body is part of it, called the autonomic or independent, autonomous system. It coordinates and regulates the activity of internal organs: heart, intestines, endocrine glands, blood vessels, sweat and saliva, etc. Its main function - the maintenance of homeostasis, i.e. the constancy of the internal environment of the body: blood pressure, body temperature, water balance, acid-base balance, etc. The autonomic nervous system, in turn, is divided into two parts: the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems.

Sympathetic - this exciting part of the autonomic system. It "includes" and enhances the activity of many organs and systems of an organism. Parasympathetic, conversely, inhibits the activity of these organs and systems. Compromise between the simultaneous activity of these subsystems and supports the constancy of the internal environment of the body and the balance of physiological processes.