Breathe In, Chill Out: Breath’s Inherent Power

By Dorian Martin, I Start Wondering Founder

The breath.

Our time on this planet begins with an inhale and ends soon after our last exhalation. 

In the time in between, we might not give breathing its due. Yet it is this complex and integral respiratory system that not only provides life-supporting oxygen to our body but also the breath that powers our voice.

Focusing attention on the breath can help us feel what’s happening in our bodies instead of being lost in our overfull and stressed-out minds. That’s especially important these days as we find ourselves increasingly triggered by a growing number of both real and imagined demons. Without that awareness of our body’s responses, we can find ourselves repeatedly stuck in fight or flight mode that quickly can become our default reaction – commonly known as feeling triggered – when the perceived pressure becomes too intense. 

But more on that later….

Aging and the Breath

What we probably remember from high school biology is that our respiratory system’s miraculous design brings oxygen into the body before expelling carbon dioxide. It goes beyond our lungs to include the trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, diaphragm, voice box, throat, nose and mouth, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Unsurprisingly, age takes a toll on our breathing. Our lungs – which, at their prime, can hold a capacity of around six liters oxygen – start declining by the age of 35, according to the America Lung Association. This can be a result of the weakening of the muscles in the diaphragm, the loss of elasticity in the lung tissue, and shrinkage of the rib cage, which limits how much the lungs can expand. 

Other health conditions can increase this decline. For example, I had a front row seat as my mother, a life-time smoker, struggled with the effects of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the last decade of her life.  Increasingly reliant on her nebulizer and an oxygen tank, Mom’s lung capacity decreased by about a quarter within the last five years of her life. I watched her get winded while walking relatively short distances and struggle to breath when her airway constricted after biting into a too-hot chili pepper.  Eventually, the decreased oxygen supply to her brain hastened her descent into Alzheimer’s disease.

So how can we take care of our respiratory system? Not surprisingly, researchers have found that regular exercise is one key to maintaining lung capacity as we age. Eating a balanced diet that includes a variety of fruits, vegetables and high-fiber foods while limiting foods high in fat, salt and sugar is also important, according to the European Lung Foundation.

Chinese Medicine, which uses a different health paradigm, also can be helpful. This system connects each organ to an emotion. In the lungs’ case, that’s grief. “When we experience loss or sadness, it’s natural for the lungs’ energy to contract — think of the heaviness you feel in your chest when you cry,” according to Encircle Acupuncture. “But when grief lingers or goes unexpressed, it can weaken the lungs and lead to fatigue, low immunity, or shallow breathing.”

And some habits can prove problematic. In his New York Times bestseller Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art,* author James Nestor describes one such issue: mouthbreathing. “Mouthbreathng, it turns out, changes the physical body and transforms airways, all for the worse,” he writes. “Inhaling air through the mouth decreases pressure, which causes the soft tissues in the back of the mouth to become loose and flex inward, creating less overall space and making breathing more difficult. Mouthbreathing begets more mouthbreathing.”

Environment and the Breath

As we age, our respiratory health also can be affected by our environment, which can be challenging to realize since many of these toxins are invisible. I first learned this from Mom, who at the time lived near a major interstate system. Her quality of breathing, which already could be compromised by allergens in the air such as pollen, was even more stressed on Ozone Action Days, in which weather conditions produced high, unhealthy levels of ground-level ozone. 

But some of the environmental issues can be far more insidious. I’ve watched a friend with chemical sensitivities walk in the door and then immediately turn around and exit my newly cleaned home. It turned out that her respiratory system was aggravated by chemical-laden cleaning products that I had just applied before she arrived.  

There is a term for this – multiple chemical sensitivity. This type of exposure can cause difficulty breathing as well as trouble focusing, shaking, sweating, and heart palpitations. 

Some doubt whether multiple chemical sensitivity is real, but I can vouch for it after I had a physical response that triggered my breathing. The culprit: artificially scented kitchen trash bags that I had unwittingly purchased. 

As a result, I’m much more mindful of the choices I make regarding cleaning products, personal products and air fresheners. If you begin to recognize that you’re developing a sensitivity or have loved ones who have one, check the Environmental Working Group’s website for research-based product recommendations.

Stress and the Breath

How often did a parent, teacher or authority figure tell you to “take a breath” when you were upset? That advice is good to remember in our chaotic world. 

So, what happens when we sense a threat or fall into anxiety? “In such a moment, our vagus nerve, which runs from the base of our brain and branches out to our organs, serves as a conduit of chemicals/hormones that are activated automatically/reflexively by our sympathetic nervous system and result in the stress response that is often described as the fight or flight response,” writes Karyn Bailey, LCSW on Yale School of Medicine’s website. “This is an involuntary and adaptive process that increases our respiration and blood flow to prepare our bodies for quick and protective action, such as fighting or fleeing. Once the perceived threat has passed or been managed successfully, the stress response also passes and our respiration, blood pressure, and heart rate return to their normal steady state.”

Yet, chronically experiencing these types of situations throws off our body, contributing to increased blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, anxiety, irritability and potentially long-term health effects. However, intentionally stimulating the vagus nerve can balance out these physical and psychological reactions. “Through the action of our diaphragm, slow, even breaths that originate deep within the abdomen stimulate the vagus nerve in a way that signals safety and cues our bodies and minds to relax, restore, and release chronic and unhealthy patterns,” Bailey writes.

Take a Breath

So yes, taking notice of the breath is critical for coming back into the body (to embody) instead of remaining trapped in the mind. We have often cited The Presence Process as a great guide for this. In that book*, Michael Brown describes the reasoning behind the prescribed short (and free!) breathing process as follows: “We are already breathing. This process now empowers us to breathe consciously. Nothing is added to what’s already unfolding rather than responsive awareness.”

That makes sense, especially if you look at it from a Chinese Medicine perspective where the lungs (as well as the large intestine and skin) are tied to “our most primal instincts and automatic responses: breathing, digesting and surviving,” according to qigong teacher Stephanie Nosco in her Instagram post. Keeping the lungs healthy supports the flow of life, allowing us to flexibly hold on and release our experiences appropriately. When we don’t, we store the memory of past trauma and grief in the body, creating survival patterns.

In times of stress, it’s helpful to turn to practices such as yoga, tai chi, meditation, qigong and other types of slow movement that help return our awareness to our body and that invite us to notice our breath. Just doing that can have, huge payoffs, notes Elizabeth Lesser in her book, Cassandra Speaks: When Women Are the Storytellers, the Human Story Changes.* “I still marvel that an act so small – sitting patiently with good posture and a relaxed body, observing the breath coming in and out of my body, quieting the mind, opening the heart – can have such a big effect on one’s day, or on a whole life,” she writes.

With all of the complexity in our world, we invite you to simplify your own. Just start by focusing on your breath for as little as 3-5 minutes each day. Can you make that commitment to yourself?

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Wanna Take a Breath?

Life invites us to make each breath count, so taking regular time to notice your breath isn’t a waste of time. Slowing down and paying attention to your breathing can help you gauge what’s going on in your life and then select an appropriate response (instead of mindlessly responding to an external trigger).

A variety of breathing techniques can help you ease stress. In most cases, they invite you to inhale for a certain count and then exhale for a certain count. You also may be asked to hold your breath briefly as a way to reset your body. 

Here are some options to explore:

• Dr. Andrew Weil’s 4-7-8 Breathing Technique for Anxiety

• Sunnybrook Hospital’s recommendation for Box Breathing

• Dr. Rangan Chatterjee’s 3-4-5 Breathing Technique for Anxiety

• James Nestor, the author of Breath*, offers three breathing exercises for better health.

  
  

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