Our breath becomes shallow and quick.
No chance to fully fill our lungs with energy from the air.
Air is fuel to move our body and to clear restrictions in the body's proper flow.
When things hurt it is normal to hold your breath.
But holding your breath keeps things stuck.
Instead, you must breathe into the pain and clear it out with your breath.
Qigong and gongfu both let the breath guide the body.
Thus the famous gongfu adage before a fight: "Don't forget to breathe" is wise counsel.
Our stress-filled days could use 5-minute deep breathing breaks peppered throughout them.
That's only the time needed to grab a cup of coffee.