So, we breathe to take in air and oxygen in order to stay alive, but why else is this function important, and isn’t it just an automatic process that we don’t need to think about anyway? Well, yes, and no.
It would be fair to say that respiration is an underestimated field in the world of modern health. As B.K.S. Iyengar (famous yoga master) said, it is difficult to describe respiration adequately in the west, because our vocabularies lack the words to fully describe the deeper qualities of breathing – qualities that go far beyond our conventional understanding of anatomical and physiological function.
(Check out 10 Brilliant Reasons to Do Yoga)
Our western vocabularies lack the words to fully describe the deeper qualities of breathing
In yogic breath control (pranayama), the breath is vital energy, making the two qualities inseparable. Breath control in that sense, is the control of vital energy. Where the breath expands, energy expands. Looking from this perspective, our western tendency to focus only on the straight mechanical aspect of breathing, seems somewhat inadequate and over-simplified. At worst, it seems like we are missing out on a valuable aspect.
Still, even the pure mechanics of breathing are often poorly understood and underestimated by many people (yoga teachers included). If we dive in to the expansive world of respiration, there is much magic to be found.
The breath is vital energy
The mechanics
So what happens when we breathe? In short, the respiratory system ensures that freshly inspired oxygen is transported into the lungs, and that carbon dioxide is unloaded from body tissues via the blood stream.
Air makes its way to the smallest and most distal parts of the lung tissue; the alveoli, where gas exchange occurs at the bases of the lungs, hence the importance in ensuring the air arrives there in the first place. Extensive capillary bed networks closely surround the tiny alveoli making it possible to create an exchange between lung tissue and the vascular system. Oxygen is picked up and carried into the blood stream to oxygenate the tissues of the body, and carbon dioxide is dumped back in the lungs to be breathed off.
Gas exchange occurs at the bases of the lungs, hence the importance in ensuring the air arrives there in the first place
The alveoli are tiny little individual sacs, shaped like grapes on a vine. The reason for their peculiar anatomical design is to maximize, in limited space, the amount of total surface area available for gas exchange. During normal inhalation and exhalation, inhalation is active and exhalation is passive.
When we breathe through the nose, the passage way is more narrow than when we breathe through the mouth, and the pressure in the channel is therefore increased. This creates turbulence making the air travel further down, reaching the more distal parts of the lungs; the alveoli, where precious gas exchange occurs.
When we exhale through the nose (the narrower exit compared to the mouth), pressure is created again by a back-logging of air, causing further inflation of the lung tissue. Nose-breathing leads the air deeper into the lungs, resulting in optimized lung capacity, due to increased gas exchange. Small airways collapsed from shallow breathing/disuse are then re-inflated. Athletes often adopt nose breathing or pursed-lip breathing during exercises, as they literally get more out of their air in this way.
Nose-breathing leads the air deeper into the lungs, resulting in optimized lung capacity, due to increased gas exchange
A gateway to deeper system regulation
The respiratory system is the only system in the body under both autonomic control and voluntary control. When we sleep, or forget to breathe, the body will still ensure that we are breathing. Yet if we decide to change how we breathe, we can. The respiratory system thus presents a powerful gateway into influencing the regulation of our autonomic nervous system.
The respiratory system presents a powerful gateway into influencing the regulation of our autonomic nervous system
PH levels in the body are constantly being regulated by the respiratory system (and also by the adrenal system: if the lungs fail to clear a PH imbalance, the disorder can turn metabolic, and must be compensated by the kidneys). Receptors in the brain stem function as a barometer that constantly gauge CO2 and oxygen levels, regulating the breathing rate autonomically to ensure that homeostasis is maintained.
When we perform our 3 part yogic breathing (full expansive breaths including expansion of belly, rib cage and upper chest region), breathing through the nose, we are engaging the diaphragm, ensuring that the air is being drawn down into the bases of the lungs, where optimal perfusion occurs, thereby ensuring that the lungs are functioning at full capacity. It is estimated that approximately 80% of all adults have a breathing disorder, meaning they are poorly ventilating their bodies through inadequate and/or unconscious breathing habits.
Stress and the nervous system
Long, slow nasal breaths signal to the brain and nervous system that we are safe. Conversely, short, shallow breaths signal a state of emergency – even if there is no actual danger (perceived stress). This is because short, shallow breathing resembles the emergency response, during which the respiratory rate rapidly increases and we automatically start mouth-breathing in order to gulp in more air quickly, and be ready for defense. Therefore, the habit of mouth-breathing can potentially exacerbate an existing stress response, and conversely, nose-breathing can reduce the stress response.
The habit of shallow mouth-breathing can potentially exacerbate an existing stress response
Anxiety, stress, anger and fear are emotions that all increase tension in and around the abdomen, chest and lungs, inhibiting good quality breathing. Furthermore, these emotions tend to bring their host into a more forward-flexed physical posture – the “posture of duress” – resulting in subconscious messages being sent to the brain that we are in a state of danger, shutting down our ability to tap into the healing part of our nervous system. Postural awareness, therefore, is important in order to achieve and maintain good health. Appreciating the impact that emotional states can have on the physical body, and subsequently the mind, carries great importance.
Anxiety, stress, anger and fear are emotions that all increase tension in and around the abdomen, chest and lungs, inhibiting good quality breathing
Respiration is one of the most important ways that we mobilize the rib cage and thoracic spine on a daily basis. Apart from inadequately oxygenated tissues, poor postural awareness and poor ventilation can lead to inflexibility of the spine and rib cage, creating a self-perpetuating cycle of a rigid spine and rib cage, which then in turn leads to poorer posture, even poorer ventilation, and potentially also emotional imbalance.
Emotions and how we move
Everything inter-relates. A strong, open, upright posture signals well-being to our system. Why? You would never walk around with your head high and your chest and other vulnerable parts bared if you were in a dangerous situation, or feeling sad, angry or insecure. You would hunch your shoulders to protect the soft parts of the anterior body, ready to protect or defend yourself from danger. How we move can influence our moods. These behaviors and mechanics are basic survival patterns that are built into all of us. Understanding these basic drivers means that we can begin to understand why the quality of how we move and carry ourselves, and how we breathe, is important to overall health.
How we move can influence our moods
It is really not uncommon for people to walk around with partial small airway collapse feeling drowsy, dizzy and lacking in energy, thinking that they are suffering from an illness, while not realizing that all that is required is better ventilation and/or postural habits. Our established medical systems unfortunately do not emphasize or teach the importance of proper ventilation to the general population, and so this simple and benign issue has become one of epic proportions with widespread implications. Needless to say that respiration, even in its limited western understating, is vastly underestimated.
Tips for yoga teachers:
Throughout class, invite people to check-in with themselves, whether they are holding tension in the belly, shoulders and/or the neck, which may inhibit their breathing.
Cues like: “soften the belly on an inhale” help people relax, and encourages deeper, diaphragmatic breathing.
Add awareness phases throughout your class, so that people get a chance to reset and build new healthy habits.
Happy healthy breathing everyone!
Kirsten Louise