I stopped and took a break and felt my diaphragm chugging away like a piston in slow motion, radiating fresh blood from the center of my body. This is the feeling of what Stough called “Breathing Coordination,” when the respiratory and circulatory systems enter a state of equilibrium, when the amount of air that enters us equals the amount that leaves, and our bodies are able perform all their essential functions with the least exertion.

