It is easy to be fearful and helpless before the invisible predator of disease. Yet we aren’t totally helpless because we have an arsenal of natural defense at our fingertips. Fresh air is but one of the 8 foundational natural healers: nutrition, exercise, water, sunlight, moderation, fresh air, rest, and trust in divine power. Yet it holds its own as a supertonic that has the power to increase vitality and drive disease out of our lives.
The Urgency of Fresh Air
Fresh air is essential to good health—as much as we can get. So what makes fresh air fresh? The negative charge caused by the presence of life-giving oxygen is mostly responsible for its invigorating magic.
The problem is that negative ions perish quickly indoors by adhering to walls, ducts, and fabric. Abundant outdoor air comes to the rescue by clearing the stagnant air of pollen, mold spores, bacteria, and viruses—among other things—with its negative ions. It essentially forms a protective circle around us.
The stomach, liver, lungs and brain are suffering for want of deep, full inspirations of air which would electrify the blood and impart to it a bright, lively color, and which alone can keep it pure, and give tone and vigor to every part of the living machinery. —Ellen G. White, 19th century health reformer
Negative ions have been well studied. Here are a few things they have been shown to do:
- Neutralize free radicals
- Revitalize cell metabolism
- Enhance immune function
- Purify the blood
- Balance the autonomic nervous system, promoting deep sleep and healthy digestion
- Increase growth in plants and animals
- Improve the function of the protective cilia in the lungs
- Decrease anxiety
- Improve learning
The Effect of Fresh Air On Disease
The 1918 Spanish Flu was one of the greatest pandemics in history and is estimated to have killed as much as 5% of the world’s population. Here is what the Journal of the American Medical Association had to say about the most effective way to treat it:
A few medicines were used to relieve the patients’ symptoms and aid their recovery, but these were considered less important than were regular meals, warmth, and plenty of fresh air and sunlight (Influenza at the Camp Brooks Open Air Hospital, JAMA, 1918).
One of my favorite books on healing, Elements of Hydrotherapy For Nurses, emphasizes the use of moist fomentations to draw congestion away from the lungs for the effective treatment of pneumonia. Yet right in the middle of its therapeutic explanation it says this:
The supplying of plenty of fresh cold air is the of the greatest importance. This one thing alone will do more than all the other means combined in reducing the mortality in pneumonia. Keep the patient warm by adding bedding and the use of hot water bottles. The window should be opened wide and a constant supply of cold air kept up. Better still if the bed may be placed in an open veranda or a screen porch. If the patient is kept warm, no effects need to be feared (emphasis mine).
Did you get that? Fresh air is actually more effective against pneumonia than hydrotherapy!
Ways To Increase Quality Air In Our Lives
Here are some practical tips on how to flood our lives with healing air and health:
- Make sure bedrooms have free circulation of air day and night. A stagnant room is not fit for sleeping.
- Spend time outdoors whenever possible.
- Open windows at every opportunity.
- Place indoor plants throughout the house and workplace. NASA scientists discovered that many houseplants can extract volatile chemicals from the air, as well as providing a constant source of oxygen.
- Get an indoor waterfall. They generate negative ions and help purify and recharge the air.
- Breath deeply. It allows our lungs to function properly. Shallow breathing saps our energy, mental clarity, and leads to weak, oxygen-starved lungs that have no elasticity.
Embrace Health and Cold-Cock Disease with Fresh Air
The power of this natural healer is highly underestimated. It can singlehandedly cold-cock disease, and it is only one of the 8 foundational healers that we have at our disposal. Make sure you make the most of it!