Connecting to The Breath & The Body
Let me give you the tiniest science lesson really fast. The Automatic Nervous System (ANS) has two parts, the parasympathetic (PNS) and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) (1). The SNS triggers the “fight, flight or freeze” response when something threatens us, or we perceive to be threatening us (1). The PNS oversees homeostasis and “rest and digest”, basically calms us down after we are no longer under threat (1). All of this happens automatically (hence the Automatic Nervous System), but there is one function that is both automatic and can be consciously controlled, your breath (1).
Your breath is the first place to get connected with your body.
When you feel anxious, triggered, flooded, angry, etc. by learning to control your breathing, you can get your Parasympathetic Nervous System online quicker to return to homeostasis.
By learning to control your breathing, you can get your PNS online quicker when you feel anxious, triggered, flooded, angry, etc. Your breath is the first place to get connected with your body. So, I would like to share three breathing techniques.
4-7-8
This one is incredibly common and no doubt you have heard people speak of it before. Simply inhale for four seconds, hold for seven seconds, and exhale for eight. But there are a few extra things I would like to add here. As you inhale, imagine expanding your chest as if it were a barrel. Fill the front of your chest, the back of your chest, and the side of your rib cage too. As you exhale, exhale s l o w l y, depleting first from your stomach, chest then shoulders. Then hold for four and breathe again.
Ujjayi
I became a yoga instructor in 2013, this is where I first learned about ujjayi breathing. Also, known as ‘ocean breath’, deeply inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth like you are fogging up a mirror. Then inhale again through your nose and this time exhale through your nose like you are trying to fog a mirror. This is the Ujjayi breath. You should make a deep sigh like the noise in the back of your throat where your Vagus Nerve is. Ok, more science, the Vagus nerve is known as the heart of the PNS. This deep ocean-like breathing tells the PNS to slow down our heart rate and bring our body back to homeostasis (1).
Alternate Nostril Breathing
Also called Nadi Shodhana, is another yoga pranayama (which is Sanskrit for breath). In this breathing exercise, find a comfortable seated position. Unlike the other breathing exercises that can be done laying down, this breathing technique will be easiest seated. Gently press your right thumb on your right nostril, and breathe gently and fully through your left nostril. Let that breath travel through the whole left side of your body. Pause. Use the right ring and pinky finger to close the left nostril, while simultaneously releasing your right thumb. Exhale all down the right side of your body. Pause. Keeping your right ring and pinking fingers over your left nostril, inhale through your right nostril. Let that breath travel through the whole right side of your body. At the top of the inhale, pause. Then simultaneously, place your thumb over your right nostril and release your right ring and pinky finger from your left nostril, and slowly exhale. Repeat this cycle as many times as you need or like.
Takeaways
The common thread among all these types of breaths is the l o n g s l o w exhale. It is the slow exhale that brings you back into your body and kicks on the PNS. Another note is if you are trying to meditate, sit or lay down with your palms facing up. You have so many nerve endings in your fingers. If you are not touching anything this may help your brain to quiet down, as there is less information your brain is trying to process.
I won't give you a specific time length for how long you should do these breathing exercises. If I said five minutes, some of you might panic and say “I have to sit still for that long?!” or "I don't have that much time in my day!" Others might say “But that’s not enough time for me to slow down!” You sit and breathe for as long as you need. Maybe it is just ten deep breaths, or maybe it is 10 minutes.
You know you best and know what you need. Just breathe and listen.
Be Well,
KB
Van Der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps Score: Brain, Mind, and Body In The Healing Of Trauma. New York, New York: Penguin Books.