You Can Breathe. You Can Breathe Better.

Let's start from the basics without a deep intro. I believe you can breathe. Well, most of you. And if you can, that already is a huge gift right? The things you can do with breath!

If you can breathe quite nicely, please do say so. Please say "I breathe well" or "I love to breathe". Maybe even "I love to breathe in fresh pure air". Also, did you know that you can actually work on your breath?

Yogic Breath? Does it "work"

A study comparing the effects of slow and fast-paced Pranayama (as far as understood from the study it was general breathwork). Those people who did pranayama for 35 min/day for 10 weeks, improved their executive functions, perceived stress scale, and reaction time significantly.

Another study starred 51 volunteers doing left nostril breathing and it demonstrated an increased performance in a spatial task during left nostril breathing and some non-significant increase in verbal task performance.

A three-arm randomized controlled trial compared the effects of Nadi Shuddhi Pranayama (alternate nostril breath) and breath awareness. The trial was done on patients with essential hypertension. There was a significant reduction in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, also a significant improvement in Purdue pegboard (assessing manual dexterity and eye-hand coordination) task performance with both hands and right hand.

Slow breathing techniques are associated with a reduction in theta activity and an increase in alpha activity at the electroencephalography level. theThe increase of alpha power is in line with the results described in a recent systematic review dealing with the neurophysiology of mindfulness

A randomized controlled trial study was conducted in patients with bronchial asthma (120 participants) for 2 months and there was a statistically significant increase in peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), forced expiratory flow (FEV1) at 1 second, forced vital capacity (FVC) at 4 and 8 weeks in the intervention group who practiced yoga breathing compared to control group

A Few Types of Yogic Breath

Ujjayi breath ("victorious breath", "ocean breath")- do both the inhalation and exhalation throughbasis the nose at a normal pace and partially contract your glottis (it creates a slightly snoring sound or the ocean sound) Focus on the passis of the air through the throat and the sound of the breath

Bhramari (Female honeybee humming breath) - Inhale fully, close the ears with your index fingers and while exhaling make a soft humming sound similar to the honeybee sound

Nadishodhana/ Naddi Shudhi ("Alternate nostril breathing") - Close the right nostril with the right thumb and inhale through left nostril. Then close the left nostril, make an exhale and inhale through the right nostril. Repeat the same with the left nostril.

Kapalabhati "breath of fire" - Hold yourself erect sitting or standing and inhale and exhale rapidly with power while using your contracting and releasing your abdomen with the same tempo (you possibly want to look through some videos). The desired pace should be at least 60 breaths a minute.

We Love Breathing

If you're interested, there are many alternatives and specifications to "breathwork" such as whole-body breathing, holotropic breathing, biodynamic breathing, and others. There are also many applications that guide you through breathwork. Please be mindful that the intensity of your breathwork depends on your individual level and you should always be in a safe space while doing breathwork (no driving).

Since most breathing techniques are also about releasing emotions, take care to find a regular practice time while taking care of your emotional wellbeing as well.

A funny tale, there was a pulmonologist (a lung doctor) who came to breathwork class. After developing a state where he didn't have to breathe for too many minutes straight, he got scared because physiologically that wasn't possible :) Life is full of paradoxes. Off to breathwork now, let's work on that bronchial tree.

References

A.A. Saoji, B.R. Raghavendra, N.K. Manjunath et al. Effects of yogic breath regulation: A narrative review of scientific evidence. J. Jaim. 2017 (8)

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0975947617303224

Lomas T., Ivtzan I., Fu C. H. A systematic review of the neurophysiology of mindfulness on EEG oscillations. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev.57, 401–410. 10.1016

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0149763415002511

A. Zaccaro, A. Piarulli et al. How Breath-Control Can Change Your Life: A Systematic Review on Psycho-Physiological Correlates of Slow Breathing; Front Hum Neurosci. 2018; 12: 353.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6137615/

R. Jayawardena, P. Ranasinghe et al. Exploring the Therapeutic Benefits of Pranayama (Yogic Breathing): A Systematic Review. Int J Yoga 2020 May-Aug 13(2): 99–110.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341063873_Exploring_the_Therapeutic_Benefits_of_Pranayama_Yogic_Breathing_A_Systematic_Review

S.A. Jella, D.S. Shannahoff-Khalsa. The effects of unilateral forced nostril breathing on cognitive performance. Int J Neurosci, 73 (1993), pp. 61-68

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1938166/

The Yoga Space

https://theyogaspace.co.uk/blog/PostId/163/uncover-the-mystery-of-ujjayi-breath

#Yogicbreath #breathwork #breatscience #breatresearch