Oxygen circulates in various forms in nature. Plants and aniumals use oxygen from the atmosphere to respire and return it back to it as Carbon Dioxide (CO2). CO2 in turn is used by algae and plants in the presence of light to produce carbohydrates returning oxygen to the atmosphere as as a by-product. This circulation of oxygen is called oxygen cycle. Human beings as animal life equally participate in this oxygen cycle.
Carbohydrates produced by plants and algae with the use of CO2 in the presence of light form the subtrate of food that we eat. Food is processed in metabolism in our bodies along with oxygen in the air we breathe to produce energy returning oxygen back to the atmosphere in the form of CO2. This circulation of carbohydrates may be called nutrient cycle.
What is the importance of oxygen and nutrient cycles to human beings? What is their role in our health and wellness? Let us examine such questions.
Ecology of bodies of water get damaged with the ingest sewage, fungus, harmful bacteria, viruses and chemicas leading to extreme algae growth depleting the dissolved the oxygen dissoved in them. The choking of oxygen supply for the sustenance of aquatic life, birds and useful bugs leads to unsightly, unhealthy and foul smelling scum killing the body of water. Similar situation can arise in the inner ecological systems of our body-mind.
We breathe continually in with an eternal supply of oxygen. Why then oxygen gets depleted in our ecology? It happens because we breathe in a manner that does not supply enough oxygen? The oxygen supplied by our breath to our body depends upon the frequency of breath and whether the breath is autonomic or volitional. It may look counter-intuitive but the higher the frequency of breath, the lower trhe oxygen supply to the body. Lack of volition in breathing also reduces the oxygen supply
To ensure that we do not deplete our inner ecology of oxygen, we need to develop a habit of voluntary breathing using breath frequencies as low as we can. Breathing at frequencies lower than 8 breaths per minute is possible only when a volitional effort is made to do so, but it can esily increase the oxygen uptake by the arterial blood by as much as 100% over that while breathing autonomously but efforlessly at a frequency of 15 breaths per minute.