Do you know how to breathe?
One Minute For Your Health #18
Deep breathing brings deep thinking and shallow breathing brings shallow thinking. – Elsie Lincoln Benedict
I’m not sure that’s true exactly, but I do know research shows that the way we breathe affects our physical and mental wellbeing.
In fact, in cognitive behavioural therapy we sometimes use breathing exercises to induce panic attacks in people with panic disorder. (Not for fun, but to help them learn that they can cope with the experience).
In this email I’ll summarise the research on the importance of breathing and then I’ll share two exercise you can do to try it for yourself.
How breathing affects your physical and mental health:
Rapid, shallow breathing is known to trigger our ‘fight or flight’ or anxiety response.
The ‘fight or flight’ response leads to numerous changes in the body including poorer digestion, increased heart rate, increased sweating, increased blood pressure, reduced healing and reduced ability to sleep. It can also impact our sex hormone balance when chronic, as our stress hormones ‘steal’ our sex hormones.
Slow, deep breathing is known to trigger our parasympathetic or ‘rest and digest’ state.
The ‘rest and digest’ state leads to improved digestion, improved sleep and improved healing.
Hyperventilation, or breathing in more air than we breathe out can lead to anxious states and even panic attacks.
Shallow breathing, or not breathing enough, can contribute to bloating and painful stomach cramps. It can also contribute to constipation, fatigue and poor lymphatic drainage.
To hear more about the impact of breathing you can listen to two really good podcasts here and here.
Two exercises you can try:
Here are two different exercises for you to compare how you feel when breathing deeply to how you feel when breathing shallowly.
The power of breathing:
*Don’t do this exercise alone if you currently struggle with or have a history of panic disorder. Stop anytime you begin to feel anxious or light-headed.
Sit in a chair with both feet on the ground and slouch slightly (as you would when sitting at your desk).
Breathe in a normal breath.
Breathe out half of what you have just breathed in.
Breathe in a normal breath.
Breathe out half of what you have just breathed in.
Repeat steps 2-5 a few times or until you feel too uncomfortable.
Reflect: how did this make you feel?
Retraining your breathing style:
I have recorded a video guide for this exercise, which you can access below. The text instructions are given underneath.
If you have ever watched a baby or a dog breathe you might have noticed that their stomach expands as they breathe in, and contracts as they breathe out.
This acts like a ‘pump’ to help the movement of our digestive tract and lymph fluid.
Most of us don’t breathe like this as adults. In fact, slouched postures, shallow, anxious breathing and tight clothing may mean our digestion is impaired by the way we breathe.
To get out of this habit try the following exercise:
Lay on your bed with a big book on your belly.
As you breathe in try to expand your belly so the book lifts.
As you breathe out contract your belly so the book moves down.
Continue this for a few minutes a few times a week.
Reflect: after each time you do this exercise notice how you feel.
In summary:
Deep, slow breathing, where the exhale is longer than the inhale and your stomach expands as you breathe in and contracts as you breathe out, can make you feel better physically and mentally.
Share your thoughts:
I would love to hear about your experiences with breathing. What makes you feel good and what doesn’t? Leave a comment 😃
If you enjoy these weekly posts then please share them with someone you love. There is no greater act of kindness than showing someone you are thinking of them and their wellbeing needs.
If you’re new here and this post got you intrigued then please subscribe below.
Links and References:
Vijaya Kavuri, Nagarathna Raghuram, Ariel Malamud, Senthamil R. Selvan, "Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Yoga as Remedial Therapy", Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, vol. 2015, Article ID 398156, 10 pages, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/398156
Silva, C.A.G. and Motta, M.E.F.A. (2013). The use of abdominal muscle training, breathing exercises and abdominal massage to treat paediatric chronic functional constipation. Colorectal Disease, [online] 15(5), pp.e250–e255. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23375005/ [Accessed 19 Nov. 2020].
Shohani, M., Badfar, G., Nasirkandy, M. P., Kaikhavani, S., Rahmati, S., Modmeli, Y., Soleymani, A., & Azami, M. (2018). The Effect of Yoga on Stress, Anxiety, and Depression in Women. International journal of preventive medicine, 9, 21. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijpvm.IJPVM_242_16
Freitas DA, Holloway EA, Bruno SS, Chaves GSS, Fregonezi GAF, Mendonça KMPP. Breathing exercises for adults with asthma. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2013, Issue 10. Art. No.: CD001277. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD001277.pub3.
Zaccaro, A., Piarulli, A., Laurino, M., Garbella, E., Menicucci, D., Neri, B. and Gemignani, A., 2018. How breath-control can change your life: a systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 12, p.353.
Russo, M.A., Santarelli, D.M. and O’Rourke, D., 2017. The physiological effects of slow breathing in the healthy human. Breathe, 13(4), pp.298-309.
Jerath, R., Edry, J.W., Barnes, V.A. and Jerath, V., 2006. Physiology of long pranayamic breathing: neural respiratory elements may provide a mechanism that explains how slow deep breathing shifts the autonomic nervous system. Medical hypotheses, 67(3), pp.566-571.
Homma, I. and Masaoka, Y., 2008. Breathing rhythms and emotions. Experimental physiology, 93(9), pp.1011-1021.
Zollars, J.A., Armstrong, M., Whisler, S. and Williamson, S., 2019. Visceral and neural manipulation in children with cerebral palsy and chronic constipation: five case reports. Explore, 15(1), pp.47-54.
Gerbarg, P.L., Jacob, V.E., Stevens, L., Bosworth, B.P., Chabouni, F., DeFilippis, E.M., Warren, R., Trivellas, M., Patel, P.V., Webb, C.D. and Harbus, M.D., 2015. The effect of breathing, movement, and meditation on psychological and physical symptoms and inflammatory biomarkers in inflammatory bowel disease: a randomized controlled trial. Inflammatory bowel diseases, 21(12), pp.2886-2896.
Deepak, K.K., 2002. The role of autonomic nervous system in rapid breathing practices. In Proceedings: Science of Breath. International Symposium on Sudarshan Kriya, Pranayam and Consciousness, New Delhi: All India Institute of Medical Sciences (pp. 42-45).
Images from www.canva.com
Learn more about Marie at www.efiaskitchen.com