Breathing is how we let the world in. It is our moment-to-moment interaction with the world. We take in air. We take in the tiny particles of the world. We release our breath, we send little bits of ourselves into the world.
To understand Chinese medical philosophy you must understand that everything is happening to us at every level all the time. There is no division between our bodies, minds, psyches, spirits and emotions. We are one intertwined, integrated being. This is not how western society teaches us to think about the body. WE DON’T EVEN HAVE A WORD FOR IT! For the whole self. The being. We say body. We say mind. We say spirit. What is the word for all of them?
Words are powerful. Without a way to talk about something, we have trouble conceiving of it. Without a word for the whole integrated being, it is hard to believe that we may fix a physical problem with an emotional release. That our chronic, physical pain may be a crisis of the spirit.
Something as simple as remembering how to breathe can release held patterns of trauma, stress and anxiety in the body. By releasing physical stress, we can release stress on all the levels.
Breathing is something everyone has access to. You don’t need a prescription or insurance or money or even very much time to practice good breathing techniques. I have heard miraculous stories of healing through breathwork.
Most of us hold our breath when we are stressed. We take shallow breaths, we sit in positions that are not conducive to breathing deeply. We have not trained our bodies to completely fill and completely empty our lungs automatically, and they have forgotten, and so they default to shallow, interrupted breathing.
Shallow breathing is a mechanism of the sympathetic nervous system. It is a stress mechanism, a fight or flight mechanism. It prepares us for and helps us interact in dangerous situations, whereas deep breathing actually brings on the parasympathetic nervous system. It calms, settles and regulates our systems to heal, digest and sleep. It’s a way you can tell your body that you are safe.
Here are a few breathing techniques to practice and explore. Most of them involve regulating the breath first, by beginning to breathe through your nose and evening the breath so there is no break between the inhale and exhale, which are of equal length. Then you can begin the more specific breathing techniques.
2 to 1 Breathing
This is a simple one. When taking deep breaths, try to extend your exhale to be twice as long as the inhale. Imagine you are trying to get every bit of air out of your lungs. Imagine as you exhale you are rooting into the pelvic floor, that space between your sitz bones and your public bone. Exhalation directly stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system and therefore lengthening the exhale brings relaxation to the body. You can count the length of your total, even breath and then adjust it so that the length of the total breath is the same, but the inhale is half the length of the exhale. For more information, check out this article by Yoga International.
4-7-8 Breathing
This method of breathing was developed by integrative medicine pioneer Dr. Andrew Weil based on ancient yogic pranayama breathing technique. The intention of this technique is to boost the oxygen in the lungs and other organs by holding the breath. Because the mind has to focus on the breathing method, it is harder to fixate on cyclical thoughts and worries. This is an especially good technique for people who worry and over think at night and have trouble falling asleep as a result. You can practice 4-7-8 breathing while sitting or lying down:
First, let your lips part. Make a whooshing sound, exhaling completely through your mouth.
Next, close your lips, inhaling silently through your nose as you count to four in your head.
Then, for seven seconds, hold your breath.
Make another whooshing exhale from your mouth for eight seconds.
This constitutes one cycle of breath. It is advised to use this technique for a minimum of four breath cycles.
For more information on 4-7-8 breathing, check out this article and video by Dr. Weil.
Humming Bee Breathing
I like this one because two technique that stimulate the Vagus nerve and therefore bring on the parasympathetic nervous system in addition to deep breathing are vibrations of the throat and stimulation of the tragus, that little flap at the opening of the ear. This breathing technique employs both of those strategies. Humming bee breathing can help release frustration, anxiety and anger. It is known to relieve stress at the temples and forehead, which may help with tension headaches.
Choose a comfortable seated position.
Close your eyes and relax your face.
Place your first fingers on the tragus cartilage that partially covers your ear canal.
Inhale, and as you exhale gently press your fingers into the cartilage.
Keeping your mouth closed, make a loud humming sound.
Continue for as long as is comfortable.
Most people understand how the lungs work, but there are other organs and tissues that are essential to healthy, efficient breathing. Breathing is what oxygenates our blood. Oxygen is essential for the functional physiology of our cells and therefore weakened or ineffective breathing can impact overall health very quickly.
The Diaphragm
The diaphragm is a bit of a mystery to many people. It is a muscle located below the lungs and its expansion and contraction is what allows the lungs to inhale and exhale. It is the prime mover of tidal air. The diaphragm is also crucial in keeping gastric contents from refluxing into the esophagus, so it plays a key role in digestion as well. A weak or dysfunctioning diaphragm can lead to all kind of health problems.
Diaphragmatic breathing can help strengthen the diaphragm and slow breath rate, therefore reducing the workload of breathing. Do you have heartburn or acid reflux? Try this method!
1. Lie on your back on a flat surface or in bed, with your knees bent and your head supported. You can use a pillow under your knees to support your legs. Place one hand on your upper chest and the other just below your rib cage. This will allow you to feel your diaphragm move as you breathe.
2. Breathe in slowly through your nose so that your stomach moves out against your hand. The hand on your chest should remain as still as possible.
3. Tighten your stomach muscles, letting them fall inward as you exhale through pursed lips. The hand on your upper chest must remain as still as possible.
It is recommended to spend 5-10 minutes practicing diaphragmatic breathing up to four times a day. When you first learn the diaphragmatic breathing technique, it may be easier for you to follow the instructions lying down. You can challenge yourself by trying this technique while sitting upright or placing a book on your abdomen.
For more: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/9445-diaphragmatic-breathing
The Intercostal Muscles
The intercostal muscles are located between the twelve ribs and build the chest wall. They expand during each inhale and contract during each exhale. Like any muscle, practicing full range of motion allows maximum flexibility, and the more flexible the intercostals are, the more capacity you have for breathing and the smoother the function. Space between the ribs allows more room for the lungs to expand and for the qi of the heart and pericardium to flow freely. Stretching techniques that open the chest and back of the ribs, and that stretch the sides of the body, allow for more comfortable, expansive breathing.
Qi receptivity
In Chinese medical theory, breathing is a function of the lung organs, but healthy breathing also relies on the kidney qi to grasp the lung qi. When this interrelationship is out of harmony, one can experience shortness of breath, wheezing and shallow breathing, or a stifling feeling in the chest. Although the lungs are taking in air, the kidneys are not receiving it.
You can practice breathing into your kidneys, which are located behind your lowest ribs in back. The right kidney rests a little lower, behind the 12th rib, and the left is a little higher. Sending your breath to the back of your 11th and 12th ribs helps facilitate qi receptivity.
Breathing is how we take the world in and qi receptivity is how we integrate it into our being. In a stressful, over-stimulated existence we can forget how to breath. But practicing these techniques actually retrains the brain. The body, in its inherent wisdom, will remember what you teach it. We are adaptable creatures and we become what we practice.
For more types of breathing techniques to explore: https://www.healthline.com/health/breathing-exercise
Photo Credits: Florian Glawogger, Jorge Ibanez, Jaco Pretorius, Daria Volkova, Trust “Tru” Katsanda, Valeriia Bugaiova