Take a Breath
Balance begins with the breath.
Breath. Breathing. It’s something we automatically know how to do at birth, right? There is an actual science to breathing, and while we do it naturally to stay alive, it turns out a lot of us are doing it inefficiently. What I didn’t realize is that for most of my life I’ve been unintentionally harming myself by the way I breathe. One of my favorite sayings is, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” And it turns out, there is a lot about breathing that I simply didn’t know.
It is no exaggeration to say that breathing is key for a healthy body. Because of the way we produce nitric oxide to oxygenate the blood, all the organs in our body are the beneficiaries of a good breathing practice. It’s also our very own power switch for managing the nervous system. Got stress? Breathing right will fix that. When we “rest and digest,” all is well, but when we feel threatened, our autonomic nervous system goes into a high alert state and that puts stress on the entire body. Navy Seals and other military personnel know that in a high stakes environment, they need to maintain composure, and a breathing exercise like “Box Breathing” is a critically important tool. Through the practice of intentional breathing patterns, we hold the key to controlling out physiological response to stress and can overwrite our body’s automatic stress response! How empowering is that?
Breathing is also the foundation of a successful meditation practice. Step one of clearing the mind of noise is to “bring awareness to the breath.” You may have read or heard this plenty of times, but what does it look like? It is to notice your inhale and exhale. When you’re in the zone, the noticing becomes a little bit hypnotic and quite relaxing.
Breathing might be your answer to a good night’s sleep. Lying wide-eyed and buzzing in a darkened bedroom for what feels like an eternity while the ticking clock is hammering a reminder in your ear that you have to get up for the day in only a few short hours can feel hopelessly exhausting. Practicing certain patterns of breathing may help relax your mind and gently silent the incessant inner chatter that keeps you tossing.
When you train your breathing in line with your body’s metabolic needs, everything works more efficiently. Your heart rate goes down, your blood pressure decreases and meanwhile your energy level picks up because your body isn’t working so hard. When done correctly, breathing offers tremendous benefits. Asthma, allergies, sleep apnea, foggy memory - all of it is influenced by breathing habits.
A healthy respiratory system is like Spiderman’s hands shooting out a life supporting web! (Well, hopefully we are not shooting out nose-web… ew.) Our nose however is the doorman, better yet - the bouncer - protecting our body from pathogens that slip in and try to chip away at our immune system. The most effective type of breathing according to my research is done slowly and through the nose. The fewer breaths per minute, the better, but a good place to aim is six. A longer exhale than inhale is an easy way to keep the body in a balanced state. You’ll notice when you are upset or in fear, your breath quickens and it becomes harder to control your stress response. This is because you’ve gone into fight, flight or freeze mode. Often our breathing is something we take for granted, and we don’t ever learn to use it to our advantage, but when we prioritize it, our breath is our human superpower!
For me, learning proper breathing technique has changed the way I function. I was a chest breather for most of my life. When I improved my habits, I sidelined panic attacks and was able to stop taking anxiety medication. I’ve also used breathwork to mitigate back and stomach pain, lower my blood pressure and increase my confidence. If I could point to one thing that has really enhanced the quality of my life in my 50s, it is breathing. Breath is life.
If you’re interested in improving the quality of your life through breathing, here are some RESOURCES to jumpstart your research:
BOOKS
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor
Oxygen Advantage by Patrick McKeown
(I practiced with Bryan Mirabella via Zoom, in his Breathing with Bryan class. Brian trains athletes, singers, divers, and plain old regular folk like me, using the Oxygen Advantage science.)
YouTube
*Take A Deep Breath channel features a variety of exercises, as well as interviews with experts
*Wim Hoff Known as “The Iceman,” promotes using the mind - and the power of breath - to heal and strengthen the body. Cold shower? No problem, use your breath!
*How to Breathe (TedTalk) with Dr. Belisa Vranich, a mental health expert who teaches breathing for the purpose of calming.
*Guided Breath Session with Tara Bianca
