It has been claimed by alternative medicine that the human body is oxygen deprived, and so that more oxygen will remove "toxins" and even cure cancer, enhances health and well-being, including strengthening the immune system, enhancing concentration, reducing stress, increasing energy and alertness, lessening the effects of hangovers, headaches, and sinus problems, and generally relaxing the body. It has also been alleged to help with altitude sickness.

In 1999 when I lived in Germany the first Oxygen Bar opened up on my block and I recall giggling when I saw it, thinking why would someone pay for Oxygen when it exists all around us. I was also at that time attending numerous Meditation seminars and retreats and learning how to oxygenate my body and understanding the effects of what daily oxygenation can do for my body and mind while becoming aware of my breathing, controlling it and helping to manage my internal reactions simply by breathing properly! 

During the same time I also worked as a professional dancer and while at numerous rehearsals with other dancers I recall my curiosity perking up as to how so many dancers smoked cigarettes and how they often got tired and more irritable than myself after long days pushing the body in training. However each time we had a "take 5" from rehearsals majority of them would rush to the back door of theater or venue to smoke. I would join to be social and sat far enough away to simply relax and take some deep breaths. I recall imagining if those that were smoking would hold a similar device like a cigarette and inhale at the same length as they would the smoke and nicotine and exhale as deeply, they would have done 5-8 minutes of deep breathing of LIFE FORCE instead, as well probably feel just as "high" as the nicotine made them feel by the wonderful effects of oxygen! 

Years later and after some time working as a Yoga/Meditation teacher, I understand how so many people where and are indeed under oxygenated due to NOT knowing how to breath properly and having the majority of their breaths come as a reaction to emotional stimuli or simply be in automatic mode, but never really recognizing the importance of conscious breathing for health! The education of Breathing properly can do wonders for your quality of life, mentally, physically and emotionally, including your over all health.

In the 1950's hyperbaric oxygen therapy was discovered and in a much more intensive way treatments of Oxygen where tested and used for all kinds of ailments and healing, more widely used now a days. Problems such as: Hearing issues, Chronic ulcers, Radiation injury, Neuro-rehabilitation, Cancer have been treated with this device.

My thought is, IF we were all breathing properly and giving our bodies, organs, tissues, muscles, brains etc the amount of oxygen they need one might not find themselves with one of these diseases or aliments needing treatment. 

With Oxygen Bars and Hyperbaric Chambers available we are giving people an opportunity to oxygenate their bodies and help heal, balance and repair cells, tissue etc... However if people understood how simple daily practice of Oxygenation or deep breathing exercises were, they could save a LOT of money and time in raising the level of oxygen in their bodies and do it in the comfort of their own homes!

There are numerous videos online that can assist with this, BUT, if you start in the most simple way, lying in your bed in the morning and spend 6-12 minutes inhaling slowly and deeply through your nose and exhaling slowly and deeply through the month, you will immediately begin to feel the results of how Oxygen can do it's work in high doses. 

Breathing and Weight-loss: In a study by Ruben Meerman, a physicist and Australian TV science presenter and Andrew Brown, head of the UNSW School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences. They discovered how Weight loss has a lot to do with Breathing...

"I lost 15 kilograms in 2013 and simply wanted to know where those kilograms were going. After a self-directed, crash course in biochemistry, I stumbled onto this amazing result," he says. "With a worldwide obesity crisis occurring, we should all know the answer to the simple question of where the fat goes. The fact that almost nobody could answer it took me by surprise, but it was only when I showed Andrew my calculations that we both realized how poorly this topic is being taught."
"If you follow the atoms in 10 kilograms of fat as they are “lost,” 8.4 of those kilograms are exhaled as carbon dioxide through the lungs. The remaining 1.6 kilograms becomes water, which may be excreted in urine, feces, sweat, breath, tears and other bodily fluids, the authors report."

This not only shows how the weight we lose is processed and lost, BUT it helps to understand how Exhaling has a huge part in this weight-loss process as well!

Breathing Vs. Massage: Deep breathing 'cuts stress as much as massage' Massage is no more effective at cutting anxiety than deep breathing and soothing music, say US researchers. The study of 68 people, reported in Depression and Anxiety, showed anxiety symptoms were halved for those given 10 massage sessions over three months. But those given relaxation therapy, which is much cheaper, improved by the same amount. Massage experts say the primary aim of massage is to treat damage to soft tissue rather than relaxation. 

Conclusion:
Our Breath can be a game changer in our Health, Harmony and Happiness... So please take some time to discover your own breathing, in a class, a private training, online, from a book, article etc... The most important is you understand all the benefits it will give you AND you DO IT!

For more support on Breath work contact me for an Online or private training to help you get started!

Happy Breathing,
Lara Helena 
Harmonize2one.com

I have read a few articles recently that inspired me to wish to share my reflection a little further...

Did you know that what you think and how you act effects everything? Yes, we hear this kind statement a lot these days, but truly did you know that our character and how we act and speak to others literally shapes how we look physically as well as how we are perceived.

From Article #1:
Having a desirable personality may indeed be a factor when judging physical attractiveness. “This findings indicates that human interior psychological activity is related to exterior physical feature[s], and that a human is the whole entity of psychology and physiology.” “If you want to enhance your physical attractiveness, become a valuable social partner.” I know this is not your standard beauty tip, but the results of these studies do suggest that if you want to improve your physical attractiveness, strengthening the content of your character may be the most effective thing you can do. 

So what does this mean when we are in the process to better ourselves, to get healthy, mentally physically, emotionally etc? Well it means that being a "nice person" a "kind person" can be all the world of difference, not only to the one you are being kind or nice to BUT even more interesting, it IS changing the way your brain is structured AND it IS sculpting your looks! It's Scientifically proven!

So don't wait to shift your view to one of kindness as you can save a lot of money on facials, save time on searching for ways to make yourself more beautiful, and save energy on frustration that your tactics are getting you no where! Just be a better person, be kind, be nice, offer your help, give love... These basics will help you shine and make the world a better place!

The second reflection I wish to share goes hand in hand with the first, if what we say and how we act effect not only others but our selves, well then, what we write should have a similar effect... and Article 2 is proving just that! Unexpected kindness... a girl who once again helps prove that random acts of kindness not only light up the lives all the people who received these acts, BUT that her own depression and anxiety disappeared!

From Article #2: 
She started writing love letters to strangers and leaving them all over the city. The first letter she left on a train simply addressed: "If you find this letter then it's for you." "What I noticed was that my sadness and loneliness got backburnered," she told the BBC. "I found something that allowed me to take the focus off of myself." 

Dr Lynn Alden and Dr Jennifer Trew, from the University of British Columbia, asked volunteers with high levels of social anxiety to commit multiple acts of kindness on two days a week over a four-week period."Sometimes people would give a small gift to somebody, or picking somebody up from work, visiting sick people, thanking a bus driver. They were actually fairly small acts," explained Dr Alden. They were small acts perhaps, but ones which had a much bigger impact.

But she urges caution about performing acts of kindness chosen by someone else or just to impress others. "I think it has be done in such a way that the individual has a sense of autonomy. They are performing the act because they want to and not because it's required by the group."

So what is this saying to us? It IS once again confirming if we want to be healthy Physically, mentally, and emotionally that kindness can be a POWERFUL tool in our maintaining Harmony, Health and Happiness!! Kindness shapes our Brains, our Faces and our Hearts as well as touching the lives of all those that come in contact with us when we are emitting Kindness.

For more support on developing Kindness contact me for an online or private session.

Happy Giving,
Lara Helena 
Harmonize2one.com
(Article #1. Is Kindness Physically Attractive?)
(Article #2: Love letters and kindness may improve mental health!)
(Video - Life Vest Inside - Kindness Boomerang - "One Day")

Laughing is an involuntary reaction to certain external or internal stimuli. Laughter can arise from such activities as being tickled, or from humorous stories or thoughts. Most commonly, it is considered a visual expression of a number of positive emotional states, such as joy, mirth, happiness, relief, etc. 
On some occasions, however, it may be caused by contrary emotional states such as embarrassment, apology, or confusion ("nervous laughter”) or courtesy laugh. Factors such as age, gender, education, language, and culture are determinant factors as to whether a person will experience laughter in a given situation.
Laughter is a part of human behavior regulated by the brain, helping humans clarify their intentions in social interaction and providing an emotional context to conversations. Laughter is used as a signal for being part of a group — it signals acceptance and positive interactions with others. Laughter is sometimes seen as contagious, and the laughter of one person can itself provoke laughter from others as a positive feedback. This may account in part for the popularity of laugh tracks in situation comedy  television shows.
The bottom line is LAUGHTER is GOOD for you and so why not try laughing a lithe more. :-) 

I have a Dream to help human beings discover their ability to find and live in Harmony, to inspire those who feel the wish to want to realize their potential, who want to seize the moment and use the intrinsic tools that lie dormit within them to reawaken to Health, Happiness and Harmony. 

Stay tuned for more from Harmonize 2 One and Keep Dreaming :-) 
Lara Helena