Try
this simple test: Sit or stand wherever you are and take
a deep breath. Then let it out. What expanded more as you
inhaled, your chest or your belly? If the answer is your
chest, you're a "chest breather," and like most
people you're doing it all wrong. You may also be putting
your health in jeopardy.
The
technique is so powerful that physician James Gordon teaches
it to nearly every patient he sees, from people with advanced
cancer to those crippled by arthritis to schoolchildren
struggling with attention deficit disorder.
He's
taught it to refugees in war-torn Kosovo, to anxiety-plagued
medical students at Georgetown University and to hundreds
of health professionals who have attended his workshops
on mind-body-spirit medicine. "Slow, deep breathing
is probably the single best anti-stress medicine we have,"
says Gordon, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the Georgetown
University School of Medicine and director of the Center
for Mind-Body Medicine in the District of Columbia. "When
you bring air down into the lower portion of the lungs,
where oxygen exchange is most efficient, everything changes.
Heart rate slows, blood pressure decreases, muscles relax,
anxiety eases and the mind calms. Breathing this way also
gives people a sense of control over their body and their
emotions that is extremely therapeutic."
A
Nation of 'Chest Breathers'
Obviously,
everyone alive knows how to breathe. But Gordon and other
experts in the emerging field of mind-body medicine, say
that few people in Western, industrialized society know
how to breathe correctly. Taught to suck in our guts and
puff out our chests, we're bombarded with a constant barrage
of stress, which causes muscles to tense and respiration
rate to increase.
As a result, we've become a nation of shallow "chest
breathers," who primarily use the middle and upper
portions of the lungs.
Few
people--other than musicians, singers and some athletes--are
even aware that the abdomen should expand during inhalation
to provide the optimum amount of oxygen needed to nourish
all the cells in the body.
"Look around your office, and you'll see so little
movement in people's bellies that it's a wonder they're
actually alive," Gordon says. "Then watch a baby
breathe, and you'll see the belly go up and down, deep and
slow." With age, most people shift from this healthy
abdominal breathing to shallow chest breathing, he says.
This strains the lungs, which must move faster to ensure
adequate oxygen flow, and taxes the heart, which is forced
to speed up to provide enough blood for oxygen transport.
The
result is a vicious cycle, where stress prompts shallow
breathing, which in turn creates more stress. "The
simplest and most powerful technique for protecting your
health is breathing," says Andrew Weil, director of
the Program in Integrative Medicine and clinical professor
of internal medicine at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Weil
teaches "breath work" to all his patients. "I
have seen breath control alone achieve remarkable results:
lowering blood pressure, ending heart arrhythmias, improving
long-standing patterns of poor digestion, increasing blood
circulation throughout the body, decreasing anxiety and
allowing people to get off addictive anti-anxiety drugs
and improving sleep and energy cycles."
New
Focus on Alternative Therapies
There
is little scientific research documenting the healing power
of breathing, in part because its practice is so new in
Western medicine. And unlike drugs or devices, breathing
has no manufacturer who must sponsor studies to support
its use. Increased interest in studying the effects of nontraditional
healing therapies such as relaxation breathing led to the
founding in 1991 of the Office of Alternative Medicine,
now the National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine, at the National Institutes of Health.
As
a result, more medical scientists are beginning to examine
the health impact of a variety of mind-body therapies such
as meditation, guided imagery and Eastern exercises--yoga,
tai chi and qi gong--which typically incorporate focused
breathing. One of the few studies to examine a clinical
application of yoga "belly breathing" found that
menopausal women who learned the technique were able to
reduce the frequency of hot flashes by about 50%.
"The
average breathing rate is 15 to 16 cycles [inhaling and
exhaling] per minute," says Robert Freedman, a professor
of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences at Wayne State
University School of Medicine in Detroit. "But with
training, women can slow their breathing down to seven or
eight cycles per minute, which can significantly reduce
the frequency and intensity of hot flashes."
Deep
diaphragmatic breathing and other mind-body techniques can
also significantly reduce symptoms of severe PMS as well
as anxiety, depression and other forms of emotional distress,
according to research by Alice Domar, an assistant professor
of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the
Mind/Body Center for Women's Health.
To
teach the technique, Domar has patients make a fist and
squeeze it tight. "Then I ask them what happens to
their breath, and they realize that they've stopped breathing,"
she says. "When we get anxious, we tend to hold our
breath or breathe shallowly." Domar then shows patients
how to breathe deeply into the abdomen, a process most women
tell her runs counter to the "hold in your stomach"
breathing they've done all their adult lives.
Domar's
favorite stress-reduction technique is a short version of
this breath-focus exercise, which she calls a "mini-relaxation,"
or "mini." "You can do a mini when you're
stuck in traffic, at a boring meeting, whenever you look
at a clock or any time you pick up a phone," she says.
"I have patients who do minis 100 times a day."
Minis
are also helpful for people with medical conditions, who
can do deep breathing when they're having an IV started
or undergoing chemotherapy.
Pamela
Peeke, an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the
University of Maryland, incorporates breath work into her
practice, in part by getting her patients to exercise. "It's
very hard to walk and take little panicked breaths,"
says Peeke, who frequently takes patients out for a "walk
and talk."
In
our stressed-out world, the fight-or-flight response that
kept our ancestors alive has turned into a "stew and
chew," contends Peeke, who studied the connection between
stress and fat at the National Institutes of Health. If
no physical response occurs after stress revs the body up
for battle, chronically elevated levels of stress hormones
stimulate appetite and encourage fat cells deep inside the
abdomen to store what she calls "toxic weight."
For this reason, Peeke says, "I'm an absolute crazy
person about getting people to move." She encourages
Eastern movements, such as yoga and tai chi, which rely
on taking deep abdominal breaths. But she particularly urges
patients to do aerobic activity to help neutralize the effects
of stress.
"When
people learn to breathe properly, they can calm themselves,"
she says. "Then the stew doesn't have to turn into
a chew." A Technique With Many Applications In hospitals,
breathing techniques once were taught only to women for
use during childbirth. Today, some hospitals have begun
teaching relaxation breathing to patients of both sexes
and all ages being treated for a wide range of conditions.
At
the Washington Hospital Center in the District of Columbia,
nurse Julie Oliver incorporates breath work into support
groups she leads, including one for people with congestive
heart failure and another for parents of babies in the neonatal
intensive care unit. "Using the breath to quiet the
body can be very powerful," says Oliver, who is clinical
manager of the hospital's guided imagery program. "Babies,
especially premature babies, can sense how the mother and
father feel," Oliver says. "If the parents go
in full of muscle tension and start jiggling the baby, the
baby gets too stimulated, and the staff may need to tell
the parents to back away, which adds to everyone's stress."
Oliver
had a chance to practice what she preaches recently, when
her newborn stayed in intensive care for three days of observation.
"I was so anxious to see Joseph, I found myself getting
all wound up," she recalls. So Oliver took a minute
to do several relaxation breaths, combined with positive
thoughts. "I was able to go in and take Joseph in my
arms in a much quieter state of mind," she says. Conscious
breathing also was a part of her delivery. "Focused
breathing pulls your attention away from pain and what's
going on in your body," says Oliver, who teaches the
technique to heart patients about to undergo procedures
in the cardiac catheterization lab.
She
also teaches breathing to staffers. "It's an ideal
form of stress reduction," she says, "because
it doesn't take any time away from work, and you can do
it anywhere."
BREATHING
TECHNIQUES
Breathing is the Foundation for Healing Energy
To check if you are breathing properly, lie on your back
-- your abdomen should expand as you inhale and contract
when you exhale.
Healing Starts with Breathing
Meditative
Breathing
1.
Close your eyes.
2. Place your hand over your heart chakra.
3. Breathe rapidly in and out of your nose for about 20-30
seconds. Must be audible. This is called Bellows.
4. Breathe normally -- focus all your attention on your
breath.
5. Repeat these steps two or three times.
Altered
States of Consciousness
1.
Envision the white light coming through the top of your
head, down the body and into your hands.
2. This will activate the palm and finger chakras.
3. Through thought, generate the flow of this energy and
project it into either yourself or the healee.
After
practicing these steps several times, you will be able to
go to your altered, energetic state of consciousness without
having to go through the entire process.
This method is simply a deepening of the breath.
Take slow, deep, rhythmic breaths through the nose. When
the diaphragm drops down, the abdomen is expanded allowing
the air to rush into the vacuum created in the lungs. Then
the chest cavity is expanded, allowing the lungs to fill
completely.
This
is followed by a slow, even exhalation which empties the
lungs completely. This simple breath practice done slowly
and fully, with intention, concentration and relaxation
activates all of the primary benefits of therapeutic breath
practice.
In
Qigong and Pranayama the breath is retained for additional
benefit.
Application
Suggestions:
•
Health maintenance: 6 to 10 repetitions
2 to 3 sessions per day.
•
Health enhancement: 6 to 10 repetitions
4 to 6 sessions per day.
•
Disease intervention: Start slowly and build up to 15 to
20 repetitions
10 to 15 sessions per day.
•
Getting started: 2 to 3 repetitions, once or twice per day.
Remember to keep it easy and fun.
Breathe
and Relax
Breathing
is the most essential function for life. It is the only
physiological function that can go merrily on it’s own without
you even thinking about it OR it can be consciously controlled
very easily.
find
time & space to relax
According
to Dr. Andrew Weil, “Conscious breathing is the single most
important thing you can do for your health, diet and exercise
not withstanding.” What a powerful statement!
While
there are dozens of different breathing exercises to help
you relax, we’ve chosen our favorites to share with you.
Here are several different breathing exercises you can practice
on a daily basis to help your body and mind relax. If you
would like to have Patricia’s voice guide you in these exercises,
click on the link below each section. (Unless you have a
cold or nasal restriction, these exercises are done breathing
through your nose.)
Full
deep breathing
Start
by placing one hand on your abdomen and one hand on your
upper chest. Breathe as you normally do for several breaths,
paying attention to how your hands are moving. (Closing
your eyes for these breaths can help you focus.) If you
feel your top hand moving more than the bottom hand, focus
on breathing all the way down to your abdomen, utilizing
ALL of your lungs. Breathing only into the top part of your
chest is a stressed breathing pattern, and doesn’t fully
fill your lungs with all the oxygen your body needs. Practice
several more deep, easy breaths. As you do, let your shoulder,
neck, and back relax. Continue this deep breathing for a
few minutes if possible. Then go about your day feeling
refreshed!
Try
putting up post-it notes reminding yourself to breathe deeply!
Extend
the exhale
Extending
the exhale can help you relax very quickly. Start by taking
some deep, easy breaths and letting your shoulders, back,
and neck relax. Then focus on breathing OUT twice as long
as you breathe in. Practice breathing in counting to three
and breathing out counting to six. The extended exhale empties
your lungs more fully than usual, automatically triggering
a fuller inhale. This provides more oxygen to your body
and helps to reduce the stress response. The longer exhale
also triggers the vagus nerve, which is an important part
of the system that relaxes the body (the parasympathetic
nervous system.) Practice the extended exhale several times,
then return to your activities feeling relaxed yet alert.
Holding
the breath and exhaling
Once
again, take some deep, easy breaths, letting your shoulders,
back, and neck relax.
Then take a really deep breath through your nose, hold it
for several seconds, then breathe out through your mouth,
making a gentle sound. Repeat several times, then go back
to your activities feeling energized and refreshed!
Breathing
to relax and sleep
If
you are having difficulty relaxing to get to sleep, use
this exercise every night to retrain your body how to relax.
Lay on your back. Place one hand on your upper chest and
the other hand over your abdomen. Take some deep, easy,
full breaths. Imagine that you are breathing in relaxation
and breathing out any tension. Do this for several breaths.
Then imagine that you are breathing in relaxation and breathing
out any tension from the day.
