From the June 2003 Idaho Observer:

The Breath of Life: The Importance of Taking Care of Our Lungs

by Ingri Cassel

Many of us are shallow breathers from growing up in the city with poor air quality. I happened to grow up in Los Angeles so I know first hand the detriment of being a shallow breather and how important it is to learn to breath deeply and feed the respiratory system with healing herbs while eating a mucusless diet. My own mother was asthmatic for many years until she discovered the power of oxygenation therapies, colon cleansing, diet and herbs.

This past week over the Spokane, Wash./Coeur d'Alene, Idaho area, there has been more intense aerial spraying than we have seen in some time. This also happens to be a time when local residents want to be outdoors, either tending their garden and yards, or hiking the general area after a long winter. There are many who are ending up in the hospital with respiratory ailments, or because they are having difficult breathing.

Following is a list of simple steps to take to ensure that you will be able to stay reasonably healthy despite the inundation of barium, heavy metals, pesticides and other mysterious polluting elements in the air we breathe.

1) Drink plenty of pure water. Eliminate dehydrating drinks such as coffee, alcohol, black tea and soft drinks. Go to www.watercure2.com or review the “Back to Basics” column in the July, 2001 Idaho Observer, p.10

2) Start “huffing” hydrogen peroxide twice a day. You can purchase food grade hydrogen peroxide from Azure Standard www.azurefarms.com and dilute this to a 3 percent solution for a myriad of applications. Details are in the “Back to Basics” columns of March 2001 and December 2002 Idaho Observers, or go to Bill Munro's website at www.landrights.com.

3) Herbs that are specific for nourishing the lungs and bronchi are mullein, comfrey, marshmallow, chickweed, ephedra, slippery elm, hyssop and cayenne. It is highly recommended that you purchase these herbs in bulk and make a tea with them, varying the ingredients with herbs such as chamomile, taheebo, peppermint and stevia to make a pleasant tea that can be consumed throughout the day.

4) Consume oxygen enhancing foods as found in the mucusless diet. Basically, this means eliminating processed foods, dairy products and meat while consuming an abundance of organic fruits, vegetables, sprouted grains, nuts and seeds. Purchasing a juice extractor for vegetable juices such as beet and carrot juice is one of the best ways to enhance your body's ability to utilize oxygen. Read March 2001 “Back to Basics” in The Idaho Observer.

5) Rebound Exercise can do wonders for your body's ability to fully utilize oxygen from the air you breathe. Jumping on a mini-trampoline daily efficiently transports oxygen into the bloodstream, and is more effectively used by the muscles. This form of aerobic exercise also strengthens the heart muscle so that it is better able to supply amounts of blood to the lungs and working muscles. (See article below).

6) Periodic modified fasting and detoxification programs are essential to eliminate the build up of heavy metals and toxins accumulating in our colon, liver, lungs and digestive tract. Dr. Richard Schultze is our premier guide in the 21st century for taking you through the process of becoming personally responsible for your own health. Call 1-800-HerbDoc for a complimentary newsletter and catalog. Better yet, get his entertaining, easy-to-read book, Common Sense Health and Healing.

7) Breathe deeper, to get more air into your lungs and exhale more waste gases. Oxygen is the #1 most primary nutrient for every cell in your body. Learning to breathe deeply is also a powerful cleansing and detoxification aid. Consider purchasing an ionizer or ozone generator for your house so you can still breathe deeply without the threat of breathig polluted air. Shallow breathing is much worse than avoiding to incorporate deep breathing techniques due to polluted air.

Many books have been written on this topic alone, such as Science of Breath by Yogi Ramacharaka and Super-Brain Breathing for Health and Energy by Paul and Patricia Bragg.

8) Don't be a victim! You are living on this planet at this time for a purpose. Sincerely pray for direction and guidance daily knowing you are not alone: God is your partner in awakening from fear into love for yourself and all mankind.

This month we are going to discuss a few important steps to take to ensure that our lungs and bronchi are healthy enough to do their job of bringing oxygen into the body and exhaling carbon monoxide. Respiratory ailments are becoming epidemic for a multitude of reasons, a few factors being our lifestyle, pharmaceutical drugs, and increasingly polluted air. According to Dr. John R. Christopher, a person could survive without food for 110 days; without water for about 15 days; but not very long at all without breathing.

This is why keeping the lungs and bronchi in good working order is so vitally important in maintaining health. Vitamin O (oxygen) is the #1 essential nutrient for maintaining optimal health and wellness. Dis-ease can only manifest in an oxygen deprived environment, and the primary route for oxygen to reach our cells is by inhaling air through our lungs.