Do Yourself a Favor. Take a Deep Breath.
It may not seem like a big deal, but when you’re only filling a fraction of your lung capacity, it affects focus, cell metabolism, and many other functions in the body.
Shallow breathing increases blood pressure and the heart rate. It can also cause sleep issues, complicating fatigue experienced by not breathing effectively. It can also lead to – or exacerbate – pain, including headaches and pain in the neck and upper back due to the disengagement of the diaphragm.
Longer breaths, both on inhale and exhale, slow the heart rate down and decrease blood pressure as well as stretch the muscles around your lungs.
Deep breathing is a powerful relaxation technique that helps bring us back to center and helps ground us during times of stress. It can help relax the body, clear the mind and increase focus and concentration.
Research shows that deep breathing techniques can significantly reduce the levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, in your system. When we’re under stress, our bodies go into a fight-flight-or-freeze mode. In this state, we’re not making our best, rational decisions. We’re acting on instinct and instinct is survival; not cognitive. When our bodies are in a state of cortisol arousal, our brains shut off and all of the energy is diverted to the most crucial systems. Digestion slows, the heart rate and breathing speed up, and adrenalin floods our system. This is one of the reasons people can be poor test takers. Their anxiety spikes about the upcoming test, their brain shuts off, and information then becomes almost impossible to access.
Breathing deeply releases stress and allows our bodies to return to the rest-and-digest mode where we are thinking clearly and making our best decisions and can recall pertinent information. A 2017 study showed that breathing techniques can bring about better focus and alleviate depression, anxiety, and stress, and bring about a better overall feeling of wellbeing.
The unconscious body, otherwise known as the autonomic nervous system, has countless functions that happen without us having to think about it – our heart beating, digesting food, releasing insulin, blinking, and all sorts of other functions that our bodies take care of every second of the day. Breathing is one of them, but it’s also one we can control and has a vast impact on the rest of the systems.
Ever see a weightlifting competition? Usually what you’ll see is the lifter will take a series of short, quick breaths right before lifting. This is twofold. One, they’re oxygenating their blood and muscles, and two, this quick short breathing is the beginning stages of hyperventilation which causes an adrenalin rush.
We’ve all heard of the mom who lifted a car off her child. This can be attributed to something called “hysterical strength.” It’s when, in this example, our bodies flood with adrenaline and we are able to do things that seem superhuman. It all starts with the breathing, the heart rate, and that adrenaline dump. And while that adrenaline is crucial if your baby is trapped under a car, living in adrenaline overload from constant email alerts, lack of sleep, or just going to hard for too long, can be really hard on our bodies. Adrenaline was meant to be a short burst of fuel for our bodies to accomplish what would otherwise be impossible tasks. Adrenaline was never meant to be a constant fuel during our daily lives. But that’s how we’re living now. We’re living in a constant state of adrenalin overload and it’s killing us and decreasing our quality of life.
Deep breathing is a simple practice we can do in our day to day lives to help shed the excess adrenalin in our bodies and help bring us back to homeostasis.
Box breathing is one of the simplest breathing techniques to learn and it’s almost impossible to do wrong. It’s also more discreet than alternate nostril breathing.
- Breathe in deeply through the nose for the count of 5.
- Hold your breath for the count of 5.
- Breathe out fully through your mouth for the count of 5.
- Repeat 5 times or until your heartrate slows and you feel centered again.
It’s best to do this practice when you first wake up, a couple of times during the day, and when you are in bed and relaxing before falling asleep. By practicing box breathing throughout the day and not just utilizing it during times of stress, we condition our body to breathe deeper on a regular basis, we lower our stress levels proactively so we don’t reach fight-or-flight as easily and it becomes easier to utilize in stressful situations because it becomes a familiar tool and not just something we reach for in an emergency.
Alternate nostril breathing is a yogic breath control practice known in Sanskrit as nadi shodhana pranayama which translates to “subtle energy clearing breathing technique.” It’s a little more complicated than box breathing, but for those who want to get into a breathing practice, it’s extremely meditative.
- Sit in a comfortable position with legs crossed.
- Place your left hand on your left knee.
- Lift your right hand up toward your nose.
- Exhale completely and then use your right thumb to close your right nostril.
- Inhale through your left nostril and then close your left nostril with your fingers.
- Now open your right nostril and exhale through this side.
- Inhale through your right nostril and then close this nostril.
- Open your left nostril and exhale through the left side.
- This is one cycle.
- Continue for up to 5 minutes.
- Always complete the practice by finishing with an exhale on the left side.
There are many other deep breathing techniques that may work better for you than the ones mentioned, but these are two of the most popular. If you don’t want to deal with any sort of technique, just simply take a deep breath. Make sure it’s slow in and slow out and you’re not doing it too fast otherwise you’ll be mimicking the effects of hyperventilation and you won’t be doing yourself any favors.
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