Singing Benefits Breathing

Have you been coughing or sneezing lately? Allergies take a toll on us, but a worse problem involves difficulty in breathing. Several causes are asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis, emphysema, and a big title called Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder, or COPD. You have probably seen the advertisements for numerous medications.

I’ve found four common causes of COPD. 1) Cigarette smoke is by far the most common reason people get COPD. But cigar and pipe smoke are also guilty. Secondhand smoke is considered a fifth cause, but it is still tobacco smoke. Therefore, I lump it in with the first cause. 2) Breathing chemical fumes, dust, contaminated city air, or toxic substances can cause COPD. 3) We read that about 3% of people with COPD are genetically inclined in their DNA: the code that tells your body how to work properly. This is called alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, or ATT deficiency. The affected lungs lack a certain protein needed to protect them from damage which can lead to severe COPD. 4) Least common, asthma can also lead to COPD. If you don’t get medical treatment for asthma soon enough, it can eventually cause lifetime lung damage.

People with damaged or diseased lungs tend to take rapid and shallow breaths, but doctors tell us that this aggravates the problem. Instead: longer, slower, deeper breathing is more soothing, helps clear the lungs, and promotes relaxation; all of which retards lung tissue deterioration.

There are many treatments for breathing disorders and I don’t disparage any of them. However, there is a little-known treatment that costs nothing. It is called: SINGING. Okay, I like to sing. But read on.

I read the following in a health report: “In a third-floor room of a London hospital…a dozen people gathered to perform vocal exercises and sing songs. While the participants were drawn to the session by a fondness for music, they also had an ulterior motive for singing: to cope better with lung disease. The weekly group is led by a professional musician and is offered to people with respiratory problems including asthma, emphysema, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder. Doctors at London’s Royal Brompton Hospital started the program after reasoning that the kind of breathing used by singers might also help lung patients.”

Those of us who sing a lot, especially in choirs, know that singing requires better posture and teaches us to manage our breathing. Dr. Hopkinson said, “In a study comparing patients who went to the singing class versus those who attended a film discussion group, only the patients who sang reported feeling physically better afterwards, even if it couldn’t be measured objectively. Other experts agreed the singing therapy was an unusual but worthy approach.”

Dr. Norman Edelman, former chief medical officer of the American Lung Association, said, “Controlled breathing, like the kind you might learn in singing, is very important because people with COPD should try to take deep breaths and slowly synchronize each breath when they’re doing something like walking up stairs.”

Would singing help everyone with lung deficiencies? I don’t know, and many people don’t like to sing. Also, although they know that slow, deep breathing does help, many folks don’t remember to do their breathing exercises. But if they got into the habit of singing, the exercises would become routine. However, those with severe lung problems will find it difficult to sing.

I am not encouraging you to stop taking medication; I am merely encouraging you to add something that doesn’t cost anything. Additionally, singing is beneficial spiritually and emotionally. Psalm 9:1-2 says, “I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart. I will tell all the miracles You have done. I will be happy because of You; God Most High, I will sing praises to Your name.” and Proverbs 17:22 says, “A happy heart is like good medicine, but a broken spirit drains your strength.”

Many people in their 70s and 80s have agreed that singing helped them breathe easier. Diagnosed with severe emphysema in 2002, a man named John Cameron Turner said he tried various medicines with not much relief. He said, “I have damaged lungs, but singing helps me use as much of them as possible.”

So I encourage you to sing joyful songs with a wholesome message. You can even hum happy tunes. You have nothing to lose and much to gain.