From Stress to Serenity

The Vital Role of Breath for Emotional Regulation

Have you ever wondered why we focus so much on the importance of the breath in yoga practice? I found this wonderful video by Dr. Tracey Marks, who expertly explains the neuroscience of Breath. Click Here if you like to watch it for yourself.

This blog is very much inspired by the video. Basically, I took notes on it and wanted to share them with you here.

How you breathe is directly effected by your nervous system. Conversely, your nervous system can be influenced by the way you breathe.

How you breathe can be beneficial to your emotional state and nervous system or it can exacerbate challenging emotions, such as stress and anxiety. So learning some simple breathing exercises, like the ones shared in this video can be very helpful.

Let’s first take a look at the nervous system to understand it a little better.

The nervous system is divided into 2 basic components:

• Sympathetic (fight or flight)
• Parasympathetic (res and digest)

Dr. Marks invites us to "think of them as the gas peddle (sympathetic) and brake (parasympathetic)".

I always found it a little challenging to remember them, so I created this little visualization to help me remember, perhaps it could help you as well. For the sympathetic nervous system, I visualize me having “sympathy for someone who’s in distress and taking action to help them”. For the parasympathetic, I visualize me gently parachuting down in a beautiful meadow.

One of the easiest and benefitial ways to positively influence the nervous system is by using slow, deep breathing. Here are some of the benefits:

1. Emotional Regulation: Fast, shallow breathing stimulates the stress response by, as she puts it, “sets off your brain’s alarm system – the amygdala. Slow, deep breathing however, balances out your carbon dioxide levels, which helps to calm the amygdala and stress response.
2. Better Cognitive Function: Slow, deep breathing increases the Oxygen levels to the prefrontal cortex. This is responsible for your concentration, decision making and focus.
3. Greater Body Awareness: Also called interception. According to the Cleveland Clinic, interoception is the awareness of your body’s internal senses or signals, such as hunger, pain or your heartbeat. It’s grounding and it brings you into the present moment. Stress can make you less aware of how your body feels. This is why I often begin class with a few moments of grounding by asking you to feel the ground under your feet, your hands on your knees, ect. Body awareness helps lower stress!
4. Stress Reset: Slow, diaphragmatic breathing “Increases the rate at which your body clears cortisol, the primary stress hormone”. It improves heart rate variability which is a marker for how resilient your nervous system is at going from the sympathetic to the parasympathetic nervous system – from the fight or flight response to the rest and digest.

She shares 3 science based breathing exercises to help you:

1. Box Breathing: Reduces stress and improve focus.
   
2. 4-7-8 Breathing: Longer exhalations are good for reducing anxiety and lowering stress response.
   
3. Resonance Breathing: Even inhale and exhale with no pauses, 5 seconds in and 5 seconds out. Helps to synchronize your breathing with your heart rhythm.

These breathing techniques effect both your emotions and your cognitive function.

So, which one should you use and when?

1. Box Breathing can be used when you are under pressure, and need to stay alert and focused. It’s a bit more stimulating then the 4-7-8 or Resonance breathing. Therefore, if you are dealing with anxiety, the holds can feel a bit stressful. Don’t force it. If the holds cause anxiety (which is possible) try the Resonance Breathing or the 4-7-8 Breath instead.
2. 4-7-8 Breathing is great for when you are feeling anxiety. It’s very calming and grounding.
3. Resonance Breathing is great for creating greater focus and alertness while also grounding. It’s probably the 1st kind of breathing practice to learn. In yoga, we often start with this kind of breathing, which has a 1 to 1 ratio, without holds. It’s important to know how to breath smoothly without forcing before moving on to other practices. It’s also great for re-setting your nervous system when switching tasks or in a daily transition, for example when coming home from work.

Here are some things to avoid:

1. Don’t force or strain. Just like yoga postures, we don’t want to be forceful with breathing practices. Doing so can have adverse effects. It can actually cause or increase anxiety or stress. Be patient.
2. If you start to feel dizzy or lightheaded, stop and go back to breathing normally.
3. Try to practice when you’re calm. Don’t try to start these practices when you’re already really anxious.
   

If you are experiencing a high state of anxiety and you need to try something right away, you could try the following:

1. Inhale deep and exhale slow.
2. Or, inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth.
   

Understanding how your breath influences your nervous system gives you greater control over your emotional health and well-being.

I hope you found this blog helpful. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out via the Contact Page on the website.

Be well,

Deb 🙏