Why Taking A Deep Breath Feels So Good

I'm excited to share this powerful resource with you.

Why it's so important to take several deep breaths and often how the body responds to breathing deeply,

The science behind why we need to breathe this more effective way,

And of course we'll talk about the basic mechanics of conscious breathing and the top five reasons for why you need to take several deep conscious breaths whenever you can and as often as you can.

I'll be sharing some helpful tips and strategies,

I'll be talking about the autonomic nervous system and how we want to engage our parasympathetic nervous system and our vagus nerve,

I'll introduce you to what is called our breathing pacemaker and remind you of how important breathing is for focusing your mind,

Improving your brain performance,

Experiencing natural effective pain relief and helping the body to restore and heal itself.

There are several reasons why taking a single deep breath or several are helpful and have proven benefits.

The basic mechanics of conscious breathing include three parts.

First,

Inhale deeply through the nose,

Aim for a count of four or five,

Ensuring that your abdomen expands.

Second,

Hold the breath for a moment or two.

And third,

Exhale completely through the mouth,

Ideally for a count or two longer than the inhalation.

Here are the top five reasons why it serves you well to take several conscious deep breaths whenever you can and as often as you can.

First,

Present moment awareness.

When you take a deep breath,

Your attention returns to the focus your mind in now.

This is helpful for being attentive to what you need to do in the present moment and to gain presence to what is important now.

Present moment awareness,

We sometimes call this now mindfulness,

Is also helpful for living awake and aware,

For being able to assess your needs,

What needs your attention,

And for being attuned with how you feel.

A conscious deep breath instantly allows for present moment awareness.

It is only the present moment in which you have complete power to choose.

If you realize that you live much of your day distracted,

On autopilot,

If you are constantly in the throes of attending to the busy nature of your mind,

Rather than being an observer,

Witnessing and enjoying the present moment,

And for whenever you've been sleepwalking through any part of your life,

A deep breath will quickly prompt you to reset.

Your deep breaths rouse you and call your attention into this moment.

The practice of mindfulness can train your brain to have a new default.

Instead of habitually practicing past or future thinking,

Which can ignite unpleasant feeling states,

For example,

Anxiety,

Fear,

Depression,

Mindfulness is an intentional act of presence.

In mindfulness,

You assist the brain in wiring neurons in a way that acts as a natural antidepressant.

To focus on the conscious mind in the present moment is what breaks the cycle of our subconscious.

Our well-rehearsed thought patterns and behaviors are replaced with attention to the present,

And reflective of being witness to what is.

Another way of describing this is to have an open mind,

To witness life unfolding,

Rather than allowing preconceived ideas and thoughts to overshadow what we may discover from being attentive and present.

The second reason why taking a deep breath feels good,

It is to reduce and alleviate anxiety.

Deep breaths will signal the parasympathetic nervous system to be dominant.

Your parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for restoring calm and balance in the systems of your body.

The body is designed to exist and to function at its best in a calm yet alert state,

That is,

The PNS activated.

However,

When we interpret situations as stressful,

We activate what is called the sympathetic nervous system,

Or SNS.

The body cannot differentiate between a real physical threat and a perceived psychological stress.

Thus,

A person who constantly worries,

Who tends to perceive situations as stressful,

Activates the SNS,

Or sympathetic nervous system,

Through their thoughts and imagination alone.

According to the World Health Organization,

1 in 13 individuals globally suffer from anxiety.

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health disorders worldwide.

Specific phobias,

Major depressive disorder,

And social phobia are the most common anxiety disorders.

Here's an effective tool for you if you are someone who worries,

If you are someone who suffers regularly from anxiety.

Think breathe,

Reset,

Calm.

Those three words,

Breathe,

Reset,

Calm.

The activation of the parasympathetic nervous system prompts the body to return to homeostasis,

Typically through rest and recovery.

You can switch on the parasympathetic nervous system by taking several deep breaths for up to,

And ideally,

A period of about four minutes.

This is the suggested time it takes for your body to fully experience the calming effects of what is called the relaxation response.

Often it takes even less time if you are practiced in deep breathing and meditation.

The benefit of taking several deep mindful breaths often throughout your day is of inducing relaxation and calm.

It is also a wonderful complement to a regular formal meditation practice.

The results of a 2010 study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine showed that slow abdominal breathing reduced the fight,

Flight,

And freeze,

Or F3,

Response of the sympathetic nervous system,

Which is responsible for activating and mobilizing you during a perceived threat.

And slow abdominal breathing has been shown to enhance vagal tone,

Which is an internal biological process that represents the activity of the vagus nerve.

The vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve in the body.

It connects your brain to many important organs,

Including your intestines and stomach and heart and lungs,

Thereby influencing your breathing,

Digestive function,

And heart rate.

The vagus nerve is the primary controller of the parasympathetic nervous system,

Which of course regulates the relaxation response.

The word vagus means wanderer in Latin,

Which accurately represents how this nerve wanders all over the body and reaches various organs.

Deep diaphragmatic breathing,

That is,

Long and slow exhalations,

Helping the diaphragm muscle move because you are expanding your lungs fully,

Is key to stimulating the vagus nerve and slowing heart rate and blood pressure,

Particularly at times when you feel anxious.

The tone of the vagus nerve,

So we're talking about tone now,

Is key to activating the parasympathetic nervous system.

Vagal tone is measured by tracking your heart rate alongside your breathing rate.

Your heart rate speeds up a little when you breathe in,

And slows down a little when you breathe out.

The bigger the difference between your inhalation heart rate and your exhalation heart rate,

The higher your vagal tone.

Higher vagal tone means that you can relax more quickly after a stressful situation.

Additionally,

The vagus nerve releases a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine,

The result of which is experienced as increased focus and calmness and a decrease in feelings of anxiety.

Deep breathing is a simple way to help your body naturally regulate itself.

Deep breathing works to calm anxiety,

As shown by a recent study of a small group of 175 neurons that are responsible for communicating respiratory information to other parts of the brain.

These nerve cells connect breathing to states of being such as anxiety,

Excitement,

And relaxation.

These specific nerve cells,

This small group of 175 neurons,

Are responsible for different types of breathing,

From shallow to gasping.

The tiny cluster of neurons linking respiration to relaxation,

Attention,

Excitement,

And anxiety is located deep in the brainstem.

It's believed that about 60 types of nerve cells make up this so-called breathing pacemaker.

Each of these nerve cell groups are responsible for different breathing patterns,

Including the calming effect you experience during meditation.

Controlled breathing,

Also known as diaphragmatic breathing,

Deep breathing,

Pranayama breathing,

And relaxed breathing,

Has long been a fundamental part of eastern practices like yoga and meditation.

It's also one of the foundations of mindfulness.

Dr.

Herbert Benson,

Author of the Relaxation Response,

Argued that controlled breathing triggers the parasympathetic nervous system to take over,

Countering our sympathetic nervous system's fight,

Flight,

Or freeze response to daily stresses.

Therefore,

Taking long,

Deep breaths slows your heart rate and activates your calming parasympathetic nervous system.

So,

What type of diaphragmatic exercises and techniques should you use?

Really,

Any type of deep,

Slow,

Diaphragmatic breathing during which you visualize filling up the lower part of your lungs,

Just above your belly button,

Like a balloon,

And then exhaling slowly,

Is going to stimulate your vagus nerve,

Activate your parasympathetic nervous system,

And then release improve your heart rate variability.

The brain interprets your diaphragmatic breathing as a cue to calm the body,

Even if the vagus nerve has not given that order specifically.

So,

The takeaway here is to make time each day to practice diaphragmatic breathing as part of a mindfulness meditation routine,

And also to take deep and conscious breaths when you catch yourself feeling anxious or panicky,

As a simple and immediate strategy for when you want to gain perspective or relieve frustration,

And certainly to bring your attention back into the present.

All of these applications of diaphragmatic breathing are so very helpful.

Some diaphragmatic breathing techniques prescribe inhaling and exhaling only via mouth breathing.

Other experts recommend breathing only through your nose.

I want you to experiment with what type of diaphragmatic breathing fits your lifestyle and comfort level and feels most calming and right for you.

Typically,

Taking breath in through your nose and exhaling out through your nose and mouth,

Your lips parted slightly so you can release the breath completely,

Is a wonderful tool for slow diaphragmatic breathing.

The third reason why taking a deep breath feels good is because it focuses your mind and improves your brain performance.

Anytime that you find it difficult to focus attention,

Take several deep breaths mindfully as a way of increasing your oxygen intake.

Breath-focused meditation and yogic breathing practices have numerous known cognitive benefits,

Including increased ability to focus,

Decreased mind-wandering,

Reports of more positive emotions,

And decreased emotional reactivity.

When deep breathing is incorporated into a regular meditation practice,

Your brain actually increases in size.

More what are called youthful brains have a reduced risk of dementia.

Mindfulness meditation techniques actually strengthen brain networks.

Meditation,

Which includes deep breathing,

Has been found to increase gray matter density in a number of different brain regions,

Including the hippocampus,

Which is essential for memory.

Something that just dawned on me,

If you've forgotten a word or a phrase or you're looking for something in your memory,

Pause,

Take a few deep breaths,

Calm yourself,

Notice if that helps you retrieve that information.

People who routinely practice mindfulness meditation develop thicker layers of neurons in the insula.

This is a region of the brain that activates upon tuning into your body and feelings,

That is sensory processing,

And in parts of the prefrontal cortex,

Controlling attention.

This is why meditation helps us to become aware of how we feel,

Which can then help us attend to our emotional needs and to focus our mind at will.

Think about how,

If you are a regular meditator,

You might have noticed that you are more attuned to your feelings,

To sensations,

And certainly that brings greater awareness and attention to being able to care for yourself in the ways that you need.

Similarly,

Research has shown that breathing in and out through only the left nostril can significantly improve right hemispheric cognitive performance.

Other studies have shown that focused breathwork can increase alertness,

Concentration,

And feelings of invigoration.

By decreasing stress,

Anxiety,

And depression,

Which have been shown to limit neurogenesis,

That is the development of nerves,

Deep breathing may also facilitate the birth of new brain cells.

Breathing can change your state of mind.

More recent research shows for the first time that breathing,

A key element of meditation and mindfulness practices,

Directly affects the levels of a natural chemical messenger in the brain called noradrenaline.

Noradrenaline is released when we are challenged,

Curious,

Exercised,

Focused,

Or emotionally aroused,

And if produced at the right levels,

Noradrenaline can help the brain grow new connections.

Therefore,

Short,

Simple breathing exercises can directly improve brain performance.

The way we breathe,

In other words,

Directly affects the chemistry of our brains in a way that can enhance our attention and improve our brain health.

The fourth reason for why taking a deep breath feels so good,

It is a form of natural pain relief.

When you're anxious or feeling stressed,

You may be prone to holding tension in various parts of your body.

In fact,

Carrying tension in the body is one of the most common causes of mild muscle pain.

There are,

Of course,

Many other reasons you could be experiencing pain.

Other causes of body aches include too much physical activity,

Autoimmune disorder,

Thyroid issues,

And suffering from the flu or the common cold.

Instead of using pain medication or trying to push through the pain,

There is a healthy alternative.

Deep breathing is a natural pain killer and can decrease the amount of pain you're feeling.

This is important because breathing deeply releases endorphins in your brain.

Endorphins have inflammation-fighting capabilities and can decrease the amount of pain felt from inflamed parts of the body.

Endorphins like dopamine are also responsible for helping you feel happy in relation to your actions.

The autonomic nervous system and dopamine are connected,

So when you breathe deeply,

You activate the parasympathetic side of the autonomic nervous system,

Which in turn releases dopamine into your brain.

I call this the body's natural feel-good drug.

And finally,

The fifth reason for why breathing feels so good,

It helps the body restore and heal itself.

Your body is an incredible self-healing system that is activated with deep breathing.

Breathing is regenerative and restorative.

It also cleanses our body of toxins.

Deep breathing increases circulation of lymphatic fluid,

Which aids in a healthy lymphatic system and in cleansing your body.

Your lymphatic system is a system of vessels that run parallel to your blood vessels carrying lymph.

Lymph fluid is full of white blood cells.

These are your immune cells which fight infections and illness.

Immune cells travel to all of your tissues and literally pick up waste or toxins from your cells and take that waste out.

You want toxins and waste to leave your body.

You want your lymph system to detoxify your body.

If your lymphatic system moves slow,

Toxins sit around much longer and damage your cells.

This is what causes fatigue,

Aches,

Pains,

Illness,

And of course disease.

Deep breathing is the switch that triggers your lymph to flow.

This is what aids in your body's ability to detoxify.

Through daily metabolic functioning,

Your body creates waste products.

Your lungs are one of the main ways these toxins leave the body.

Your lungs are the entrance point for the air that you breathe in and the release of the gases that the body expels.

When you use a limited portion of your lungs,

That is if you breathe shallow,

You limit the amount of oxygen that comes in and toxins that need to be released because many of the unused tiny air sacs in the lungs are collapsed.

Your body loves and lives on oxygen so more is definitely better.

When you practice deep breathing daily,

You open up more of your lungs.

You take in more oxygen and you get rid of more waste products.

The simple practice of taking conscious deep breaths helps your body do what it is so intelligently designed to do.

There are a myriad of physiological benefits when deep breathing.

You support and aid the body to restore and heal itself each time you take conscious deep breaths.

Deep breathing helps your respiratory system to work better.

Respiratory difficulties such as asthma,

Bronchitis,

And even chest pain can subside.

Breathing into the gut massages the internal organs to function well.

One simple benefit of deep breathing is improved digestion as it assists the enteric nervous system which regulates digestive activity.

Breathe into your lower abdomen to experience this benefit.

Deep breathing increases oxygen to the heart as blood circulates more effectively.

Deep breathing supports your immune system which helps tissues to regenerate and heal.

Taking deep breaths causes you to experience more internal energy,

That is wakefulness and feeling energized which also aids the body in detoxifying.

Witness the powerful healing effects of your body.

And finally,

What is the ideal way to breathe deeply?

Well,

The idea of this kind of breathing is based on a yoga breathing practice called pranayama.

Prana means life force and yama means to consciously control or elongate.

So try this.

Inhale through your nose with your mouth closed.

Witness your diaphragm move down in your chest,

Expand outward as you hold your breath.

Exhale through your open mouth first.

This is how you empty the lungs which allows your diaphragm to rise back up.

Count the number of counts as you inhale.

Hold breath for the same number of counts.

Then release breath for one to two counts longer than your inhalation.

If you can do 10 deep breaths a day,

That is fabulous.

Doing this three times a day would be amazing.

And again,

I'm going to share yet another meditation.

This is called abundant breath meditation as a helpful guided practice to experience what's happening in your lungs and with your diaphragm as you breathe deeply.

I hope this has been so helpful for you and that it has brought a renewed sense of awareness to how powerful,

How important it is to breathe deeply,

And of course,

How good it feels to take many deep breaths and often.

Thank you so much for listening.

This is Dorothy Sonore Cuno.

Namaste.