Using Breath to De-Stress
Is America Stressed Out?
According to the 2019 Gallup Global Emotions report, Americans are some of the most stressed out people in the world. While stress is good to a degree - chronic stress is not. Chronic stress has deleterious effects on both physical and mental health. Today, stress is impossible to avoid and as a result the ability to control and regulate stress is one of the most powerful tools to obtain.
How Do Become Stress? It All Starts in the Autonomic Nervous System
To understand how stress manifests within the body - we will need to introduce the autonomic nervous system - as the name implies this system within the body are largely automatic and regulated unconsciously. For example, you never have to tell your heart to "beat". There are two branches within the autonomic nervous system - the sympathetic nervous system (the gas pedal) and the parasympathetic nervous system (the brake pedal). Today, many humans are in what is referred to as sympathetic dominance. On the other hand, being parasympathetic dominant is not ideal either. The ideal state is within the middle - responding to stress as needed, and resting and relaxing when recovery is appropriate.
The autonomic nervous system receives information from the environment and responses accordingly. For example, if you were to begin exercising - the body would perceive a threat and as a result the body would respond by increasing heart rate, dilating airways for increased ease of breathing and redistribute blood flow from digestion to the working muscles. It's important to note that these examples are just the tip of the iceberg. This same process occurs every time your body perceives a threat within the environment. A few examples of these stressors today are exercise, work deadlines, traffic, social media, when running late for an appointment or if you lost your keys. As you can imagine there is an endless amount of stressors that can lead you into a sympathetic dominant state.
When your body is an a sympathetic dominant state there are many health ailments that can result such as, chronic pain, a weakened immune system, fertility issues, high blood pressure, anxiety, panic attacks, fatigue, insomnia, depression, dementia, obesity and diabetes. Thus, the ability to control your stress can be critical for optimal health and longevity. Aside from acupuncture and exercise/movement, one of our favorite ways to manage stress is through a consistent breathwork practice.
Breathwork
Ancient practices have long used breathwork as a way to calm the mind, body and spirit. Today, breathwork is often overlooked due to it's simplicity. However, did you know some of the toughest human beings on the planet use breathwork as a way to manage stress and create focus? The Navy Seals are well known for working extremely effectively even under high pressure situations. And, they are trained in breathwork and employ it regularly throughout their training and in combat. There are countless breathing techniques that exist and each have their purpose within life.
The breathing exercises we engage in daily is box breathing and 4-7-8 breathwork. A 2019 study demonstrated that both equal count breathing (box breathing) and skewed breathing (4-7-8) improve vagal nerve tone as measured through heart rate variability (HRV) of the study participants. Both box breathing and 4-7-8 focus on deep diaphragmatic breathing which stimulates parasympathetic nervous system activity (also known as rest and digest). Therefore, it appears that both types of diaphragmatic breathing are beneficial for health and longevity.
To maximize the benefits - breathwork should be performed at least 5 days a week. When beginning breathing exercises - take the less is more approach. Just as you would with exercise it is best to ease into breathwork. When beginning 4-7-8, Dr. Andrew Weil recommends starting with 4 cycles and work up from there. The same is true for box breathing - beginning with a few minutes daily and increasing as you continue to practice.
Below you will find videos to box breathing as well as 4-7-8. Enjoy the relaxing effects of breath. And feel free to bring your new skills to the acupuncture table. Your body will love the 1-2 combo of parasympathetic activation! Enjoy!
