Page 197 - Wasserstoff Medizin

Newborn: 30-60 breaths per minute

Infant (1 to 12 months): 30-60 breaths per minute

Toddler (1-2 years): 24-40 breaths per minute

Preschooler (3-5 years): 22-34 breaths per minute

School-age child (6-12 years): 18-30 breaths per minute

Adolescent (13-17 years): 12-16 breaths per minute

Adult: 12-18 breaths per minute

Dr. Sheldon Saul Hendler writes, “Breathing is unquestionably the single most important
thing you do in your life. And breathing right is the single most important thing you can
do to improve your life.” So what is the actual difference to our lives and health when we
breathe less? You will be astounded by the information that Michael White has put
together. 85,000 people filled out his questionnaire on his site yielding the following vital
information:

Courtesy breathing.com

Dr. Fred Muench, says, “Once you go below 10 breaths a minute you start to engage the
parasympathetic nervous system, which helps the body relax when it has been injured.
Slow breathing activates the vagus nerve, the primary cranial nerve, which is associated
with a recuperative state." Perhaps more important, slow breathing tends to increase heart-
rate variability, a measurement of the fluctuation in heartbeat during an activity. "If your
heart rate fluctuates 60 to 80 beats per minute, cardiac-wise that's healthier than someone
whose heart rate varies between only 70 and 75 beats per minute," says Muench. "It means
your system is not so rigid. Someone like Lance Armstrong has a massive swing in heart-
rate variability, whereas an unhealthy or older person has a much smaller one. The way
to increase variability is to breathe slowly."

A person who is breathing at four breaths a minute will only breathe about 5,760 times a
day. At the “normal” breathing rate of eight breaths a minute that count doubles to 11,520
breaths a day. At 16, which is still slow for many ill people that rate reaches to 23,000

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