My interest in the breath began in a training session at the gym.
“Let’s talk about the breath,” she said.
In response, I blurted
out a ridiculous comment:“I don’t like to breathe.”
What I meant is I
don’t like to follow the instructions of how to breathe during an exercise
class. Instead, I continue to breathe in a haphazard way, resisting the
discipline. But why?
The trainer observed
me and said, “When you inhale, you don’t relax your abdominal muscles. Instead,
you tighten them.” She suggested that the problem arose because I’ve been
taught to hold in my stomach muscles.
Well that is
strange. How can I do something so wrong that is supposed to be entirely
natural? We usually don’t think about this process of inhalation and exhalation
by which the body brings in O2 and exhales CO2 because we assume it is
automatic.
I can’t believe I’m
the only one in the world to whom efficient breathing doesn’t come naturally,
so I decided to explore the topic. I soon learned that actually both inhalation
and exhalation are quite intricate, a combination of relaxation and contraction
of various muscles.
As we inhale, the
abdominal muscles relax but the diaphragm contracts to move downward to create
a vacuum and pull in the air. Upon exhalation the stomach muscles contract, but
the diaphragm relaxes upward to push the stale air out!
To further
complicate matters, we’re supposed to inhale and exhale for the same length of
time to expel all the stale air at the base of the lungs. Obviously, we’re all
breathing, but we’re not all breathing efficiently or correctly to our full
capacity.
To do so requires attention and
concentration!
According to the
American Physiological Society, curiosity about respiration began over two
millennia ago, but by comparison, serious physiological investigation into its
control is very young.
Breathing is both
automatic and to some extent, also voluntary. If we don’t think about it, we
breathe on automatic pilot. But we can also take control to guide the process
like a skilled pilot flying a jet.
We don’t often think
about the power of the breath, but the
wolf in the children’s story of The Three
Little Pigs intuits this power to blow down pigs’ houses!
Focusing on the
inhalations and exhalations is indeed “boring” but its regular rhythm can
soothe us to sleep with the power of
a lullaby. Counting our inhalations and exhalations can conquer our various
fears, such as a flying phobia. When we feel out of control of our situation,
focusing on the breath helps us to feel in charge again.
A phrase from a
meditative exercise says, “If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in
the moment, live in the breath.” The Yogi masters say that meditation and
breathing exercises can sharpen our minds and modern research has validated the
yogis teaching. Breath control or pranayama
is the fourth of Patanjali’s eight limbs of yoga. According to the June 2015 Yoga Journal, Pranayama is a physical,
mental and meditative practice that uses the breath as a vehicle to improve
life.
Singers and athletes
have to train their breath to achieve the heights of their discipline. And each
of us has this great power within our grasp to harness our breath to benefit
our health.
Scientific research
is studying how mindful breathing—paying attention to the breath and learning
how to manipulate it—is one of the most effective ways to lower everyday stress
levels and improve a variety of health factors ranging from mood to metabolism.
An historical
approach shows that how we breathe relates to the culture in which we’re
raised. Women of the Victorian age often suffered from a malady called
neurasthenia, or nervous exhaustion. They had to wear tight-fitting corsets
that compressed their chest and abdominal muscles that made deep and efficient
breathing impossible. After exertion, even as minimal as climbing a flight of
stairs, they would often faint. Some had a room at the top of the stairway in
their home known as a fainting room, where they could relax to catch their
breath.
Maybe in some ways
society has evolved to become less barbaric; with an understanding of
physiology we would never recommend such binding or constrictive attire for
anyone!
Breathing is
intricately connected with our emotions. Panic disorder, a state of extreme
anxiety, may cause hyperventilation that increases the oxygen level and results
in feelings of light-headedness. As a result, panicky feelings worsen.
Breathing into a paper bag helps to increase the level of carbon dioxide and
decrease the anxiety.
Gastic reflux is
another problem that an understanding of respiration may be able to help. In
this condition, gastric contents leak from the stomach into the lower
esophagus. GI physiologists are studying how focusing on the action of the
diaphragm can help to prevent these episodes. Tightening the muscles during
swallowing may work better than taking any of the class of medications known as
proton inhibitors.
A person reported on
the web that he hadn’t benefitted from medication. Like me, he was contracting
his abdominal muscles when he should have been relaxing them! When he focused
on proper breathing techniques his symptoms of acid reflux disappeared.
Dr. Andrew Weil
endorses proper breathing techniques as a gateway to health.
Please refer to his brief YouTube video How To Perform the 4-7-8 Breathing.
Directions: Inhale
through the mouth for four counts, hold for seven counts, and then exhale
through the mouth with an audible swish sound. He recommends that a person take
four of these rhythmic breaths four times daily during the first month.
Using the breath to
treat various symptoms is an inexpensive, ever-accessible method that requires
discipline, but in the long run can be most rewarding.
Breathing grounds us
in our bodies. As N. Harari, the author of Sapiens
and 21 Solutions for Problems of the 21st
Century, writes, “If we are not at home in our bodies, we’re not at home in
the world.” Clearly, if we don’t breathe properly, we can’t be at home in our
bodies.
In summary, proper
breathing can help with many kinds of stress. When matters around us are out of
our control, we do have power over our breath and therefore ourselves.
Conclusion: The
fastest road to being at home in our bodies is the route of the breath, a
powerful tool to self -cure.
We are missing
a
fountain of health
if
we fail to explore the breath.
Dear Reader, I welcome your comments. jsimon145@gmail.com
