The Power of Breath
Inhale - Exhale - Repeat
In today’s modern world there is a hack, a trick, a tip, a pill, a something for anything. While, yes, oftentimes those things work for some people, some of the time, they don’t always work for everyone and can likely cause more frustration in people searching for answers when they don’t work.
LEARNING HOW TO MANIPULATE THE BREATH MIGHT JUST BE THE BEST THING YOU DO FOR YOUR HEALTH, EVER.
Relaxation and calming of the central nervous system (CNS) is one of those topics these days (especially post 2020) that we are seeking - with almost desperation - more of. Now, while there are many resources available that are reliable, effective and can help you to calm the nervous system (herbs, essential oils, exercise, passion projects, etc.) this one is Universal, easy to do, highly effective free, and best of all - you’re already doing it.
Yup, that’s right. We’re talking about breathing. The breath - what a magical tool given to us by our bodies. Learning how to manipulate the breath might just be the best thing you do for your health, ever. Ancient practices of breath-work, also known as pranayama, have been practiced for centuries and have proven to be highly effective in improving overall health.
Think about a moment in time when you were angry, frustrated, anxious, afraid or felt that you needed to leave an environment as soon as freaking possible (ASAFP).
As you think back to that experience, what in your physical body begins to shift? Do your fingers and toes start to grip a little tighter? What about the muscles around your eyes or your mouth? Do they tighten and squint? Does your breath stay calm and steady or do you begin to take more shallow, short breaths from the top of your chest?
The sympathetic nervous system (think fight or flight channel) increases adrenaline and cortisol and tells your body that it is in an unsafe space and needs to get back to safety ASAFP. By increasing adrenaline and cortisol levels, your heart rate increases, the amount of oxygen circulating your body decreases, your blood vessels constrict and your muscles become more tense.
Activating your sympathetic nervous system can be super helpful, if you’re trying to escape danger (or run away from a lion as we did way back in the day). However, with so much craziness in the hustle and bustle of our modern world, most of us often just live in this “fight or flight” space, even though most likely non of us are really every being chased by a lion. Never letting our adrenals rest, walking around with a constantly elevated heart rate, unable to fully relax and most likely feeling overwhelmed, nervous, possibly depressed and in a constant state of anxiety (ahem millennials, this one’s for you) is just NOT, we repeat NOT, the way our bodies were designed to exist.
We, as a product of the world we live in, have been taught that “doing our best” equals burn out and if you’re not overwhelmed and exhausted, you should be working harder. That high levels of stress, anxiety, and even sometimes depression, are normal and that is just what you have to go through in order to find success.
Hold on though. Don’t take this personally as though it is your fault for experiencing the above emotions. We have not been taught how to rest or that rest and digest actually creates more space for more focused and effective energy, leading to overall more productive work and - let’s be honest, since work is not what life is about - happier, more fulfilled and healthier lives in general.
So, put down the coffee, grab some water or herbal tea and let’s dive deeper into how you can harness this tool that you’ve literally done all your life and make it work to your advantage (calming the nervous system) instead of letting it work against you (activating the nervous system). It’s easy - honest - and can take as little as 5 min per day.
How breath-work, well, works.
Before we dive into the techniques, we want to cover biology of how breath-work actually helps your body relax and engages the parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS, think rest and digest channel) vs. activating the sympathetic nervous system (SNS, remember - fight or flight lion is chasing you channel).
As mentioned above, the everyday stressors of today’s world often leave us stuck in our SNS. When we are in this mode, our breath tends to be effected. You can also think of this like the chicken or the egg theory. Does breath activate the SNS or does the engagement of the SNS change the way we breathe. The answer, unfortunately, is yes. Both of those can lead us into SNS and together they work cyclically to keep us there. When our bodies are activated by the SNS, the breath tends to be shallow, short and originating from the chest. These quick, shallow, non-diaphragmatic breaths can help you when you need to be on the move, but they can also cause:
Overstimulation of the nervous system, making you jittery, anxious, nervous, emotional
Hunger or tiredness
Emotional swings, moodiness
Fraying of the nervous system
Sometimes, skin rashes can even appear
Fortunately, there are ways to exit the SNS and activate the PSNS leading to relaxation, bliss, mental clarity and improved health!
Have you ever heard of the Bohr effect?
Bohr effect is a physiological effect known for over 100 years that says when you increase the pH of your blood (or rather, increase the concentration of c02 in the blood), red blood cells will release their loads of oxygen causing a decrease in the pH and allowing blood cells to pick up even more oxygen.
As your exhales become longer than your inhales and the Bohr effect takes place, you are actually allowing your body to enter into a more restful state.
Benefits of the Bohr effect - breath-work that helps to activate the PSNS:
Move blood throughout the body
Strengthen the muscles of breathing
Move the spine with natural motions
Control heart rate and nervous system to relax muscles throughout the body
More energy
Might lead to requiring less sleep
Desire to consume less food
You can practice these breath techniques at home right now as your own little science experiment.
SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM BREATH
Sit or lay down in a comfortable space somewhere quiet and uninterrupted by distractions.
Set a timer for five minutes (or however many minutes you can spare).
Close your eyes or soften your gaze.
Either take mental notes or jot down in a journal how you are feeling (meaning, physical, emotional, and mental. This could honestly be an entirely separate blog post so for the moment, don’t overthink what it means to notice what is happening in all three of those “bodies”, just do your best).
Set a timer on for 30 seconds and take 30 or so short and shallow breaths.
Jot down how you feel now. Notice the physical sensations you are experiencing, the mental thoughts and the emotions that might be flooding into your system.
NATURAL RHYTHMIC BREATH
Often we are being told to breathe this way, breathe that way, but really, we don’t even know what our normal breath is or how to breath properly. Before even inviting in other manipulations of the breath, we encourage you to sit with your breath for 5 minutes everyday for at least a week to focus on your own breathing.
Sit or lay down in a comfortable space somewhere quiet and uninterrupted by distractions.
Set a timer for five minutes (or however many minutes you can spare).
Close your eyes or soften your gaze.
Focus on your surroundings. What can you hear? What can you smell? What can you feel? What can you touch? Without paying huge attention to your actual breath, at first, simply begin to notice your experience. Be an observer.
Then, slowly, draw your attention in towards your breath and notice the way it feels to pull air into nose, let the air circulate your body and exhale through your nose.
Jot down your experiences after your time is up.
INCREASED EXHALE BREATH
One of the most important breath manipulations you can do for your overall health and causes the Bohr effect is to lengthen the exhale over your inhales. Since breath is mostly unconscious, we don’t really ever need to think about our inhales nor or exhales. However in this style of breath-work, the magic happens in the exhale.
Sit or lay down in a comfortable space somewhere quiet and uninterrupted by distractions.
Set a timer for five minutes (or however many minutes you can spare).
Close your eyes or soften your gaze.
Inhale for a count of 4
Exhale for a count of 6
Jot down your experiences after your time is up.
You can also experiment with putting a break in between your inhale and exhale, holding at the top and bottom of each breath for as many beats as desires. For example, 4-2-6-2.
Spend time each day working on this breath manipulation and build your exhales up for longer beats. For example, inhale for 4, hold for 2, exhale for 8, hold for 2 (4-2-8-2).
ALTERNATE NOSTRIL BREATH
Alternate nostril breathing, or nadi shodhana (nadi meaning channel and shodhana meaning purification), is a pranayama used a lot in yogic practices to calm the nervous system and literally purify the channels of breath. This style of breath-work incorporates closing off one nostril to exhale and inhale and then opening that nostril while closing off the other nostril to again exhale then inhale. By focusing on one side of the brain at a time, nadi shodhana assists in carrying larger amounts of oxygen to the brain, one hemisphere at time.
Sit or lay down in a comfortable space somewhere quiet and uninterrupted by distractions.
Set a timer for five minutes (or however many minutes you can spare).
Close your eyes or soften your gaze.
Place your pointer and middle fingers from your right hand on your third eye center.
Your thumb will fall on your right nostril and your pinky on your left.
Take a deep inhale.
Block your left nostril and exhale only through the right.
Release the left nostril, block the right nostril exhale and inhale on the left.
Now release your right nostril, block your left nostril, exhale and inhale on the right.
Repeat for as many times as needed or until your timer beeps.
Replenish the system by opening your eyes slowly (if you closed them) and drinking lots of water.
Jot down your experiences after your time is up.
Loving this topic and want to dive deeper into the world of breath? Check out a two of our favorite breath masters.
Simon Borg-Oliver of Yoga Synergy
Wim Hoff of the Wim Hoff Method
References
https://yogasynergy.com/to-breathe-or-not-to-breathe/
https://yogasynergy.com/online-courses/breathe-pranayama/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=NX0JVtoPU_o
https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/breathing-technique-calm-mental-focus-vagus-nerve-christopher-bergland.html#:~:text=As%20you%20gradually%20feel%20more,and%20better%20able%20to%20concentrate.
https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-4386/A-Simple-Breathing-Exercise-to-Calm-Your-Mind-Body.html