Status:: #literature/books/ Author:: Medium:: { Books MOC Tags:: Links: { Breath Application
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Introduction
- Despite not thinking it would work, the author sweat and felt better the next day after taking a guided breath class
- Author claims that breathing is the missing puzzle in our wellbeing, especially in respiratory problems
Outline
- Teeth and breathing, deterioration
- Restorative breathing
- Conscious breathing
- Overbreathing
- Full potential
Experiment
Author and some other dude agreed to an experiment where they would do 10 days mouth breathing and 10 days nose breathing.
From mouth breathing, his blood pressure rose to the level of stage 1 hypertension.
Mouthbreathing in physical endurance
Simply training yourself to breathe through your nose, Douillard reported, could cut total exertion in half and offer huge gains in endurance. The athletes felt invigorated while nasal breathing rather than exhausted. They all swore off breathing through their mouths ever again.
Modes of energy creation from breathing:
- Anaerobic energy
- Generated with glucose and without oxygen
- Back-up, quick and easy access
- Activates during start of an intense workout
- Eventually, switches into aerobic respiration
Mouth breathing gradually transforms airways to make breathing harder, while nose breathing promotes it
Concepts
Mewing
He explained that the first step to improving airway obstruction wasn’t orthodontics but instead involved maintaining correct “oral posture.” Anyone could do this, and it was free.
- Hold lips together, teeth lightly touching
- Tongue on roof of mouth
- Head should be perpencidular to body ?
- J shape spine, curve outward on head
- Breathe from nose into abdomen
Tongue-thrusting
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push the back of the tongue against the back roof of the mouth and move the rest of the tongue forward, like a wave, until the tip hits just behind the front teeth. I tried it a few times. It felt awkward, like I was holding back vomit.
Automatic Nervous System
Parasympathetic nervous system
- Makes us feel good with serotonin and oxytocin after activities like eating and sex
- Slow, soft breaths
Sympathetic
- Tells us to get ready for action, boost in adrenaline and sharpened mind
- Short, hasty breaths
Wim Hof
- Wife committed suicide, he ended up practicing tummo-style breathing and achieved great feats like stay in ice-cold baths and fight e-coli
Breathing Techniques
Breathing can be used to affect our nervous system
Tummo-style breathing
- Get into zone before something important
- Stress-induced breathing
Wim-Hof Breathing
Type of tummo-style breathing
- Lie flat on back with pillow under head
- Deep breath into pit of stomach, let it back out just as quickly for 30 cycles
- Breaths should be wave, inhales flat stomach then chest, then reverse in same order
- Exhale to 1/4 of air left in lungs, hold for long as possible, then inhale and hold for 15 seconds
- 3-4 rounds, add in cold exposure
- Forces body into stress then relaxation, allows for flexibility
HoloTrophic Breathing
- Hallucinatory
Exhale
- Do full exhales with the diaphgram
Perfect Breath
The perfect breath is this: Breathe in for about 5.5 seconds, then exhale for 5.5 seconds. That’s 5.5 breaths a minute for a total of about 5.5 liters of air
- Do for few minutes or hours
Alternate Nostril Breathing
- Improves lung function and lowers heart rate, blood pressure, and sympathetic stress
- Employ before a meeting, an event, or sleep.
Steps
(Optional) Hand Positioning: Place the thumb of your right hand gently over your right nostril and the ring finger of that same hand on the left nostril. The forefinger and middle finger should rest between the eyebrows.
Close the right nostril with the thumb and inhale through the left nostril very slowly.
At the top of the breath, pause briefly, holding both nostrils closed, then lift just the thumb to exhale through the right nostril.
At the natural conclusion of the exhale, hold both nostrils closed for a moment, then inhale through the right nostril.
Continue alternating breaths through the nostrils for five to ten cycles.
BREATHING COORDINATION
This technique helps to engage more movement from the diaphragm and increase respiratory efficiency. It should never be forced; each breath should feel soft and enriching.
Sit up so that the spine is straight and chin is perpendicular to the body.
Take a gentle breath in through the nose. At the top of the breath begin counting softly aloud from one to 10 over and over (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10).
Take in another large and soft breath and repeat.
Continue for anywhere from 10 to 30 or more cycles.
Eventually, do it during fitness
RESONANT (COHERENT) BREATHING
A calming practice that places the heart, lungs, and circulation into a state of coherence, where the systems of the body are working at peak efficiency. There is no more essential technique, and none more basic.
Sit up straight, relax the shoulders and belly, and exhale.
Inhale softly for 5.5 seconds, expanding the belly as air fills the bottom of the lungs.
Without pausing, exhale softly for 5.5 seconds, bringing the belly in as the lungs empty. Each breath should feel like a circle.
Repeat at least ten times, more if possible.
Several apps offer timers and visual guides. My favorites are Paced Breathing and My Cardiac Coherence, both of which are free. I try to practice this technique as often as possible.
CHEWING
Hard chewing builds new bone in the face and opens airways. But for most of us, gnawing several hours a day—the amount of time and effort it takes to get such benefits—isn’t possible, or preferable. A number of devices and proxies can fill the gap.
Gum
Any gum chewing can strengthen the jaw and stimulate stem cell growth, but harder textured varieties offer a more vigorous workout. Falim, a Turkish brand, is as tough as shoe leather and each piece lasts for about an hour. I’ve found the Sugarless Mint to be the most palatable. (Other flavors, such as Carbonate, Mint Grass, and sugar-filled varieties, tend to be softer and grosser.) Mastic gum, which comes from the resin of the evergreen shrub Pistacia lentiscus, has been cultivated in the Greek islands for thousands of years. Several brands are available through online retailers. The stuff can taste nasty but offers a rigorous jaw workout.
SUDARSHAN KRIYA
This is the most powerful technique I’ve learned, and one of the most involved and difficult to get through. Sudarshan Kriya consists of four phases: Om chants, breath restriction, paced breathing (inhaling for 4 seconds, holding for 4 seconds, exhaling for 6, then holding for 2), and, finally, 40 minutes of very heavy breathing.
A few YouTube tutorials are available, but to get the motions correct, deeper instruction is highly recommended.
Box Breathing
Navy SEALs use this technique to stay calm and focused in tense situations. It’s simple.
Inhale to a count of 4; hold 4; exhale 4; hold 4. Repeat.
Longer exhalations will elicit a stronger parasympathetic response. A variation of Box Breathing to more deeply relax the body that’s especially effective before sleeping is as follows:
Inhale to a count of 4; hold 4; exhale 6; hold 2. Repeat.
Try at least six rounds, more if necessary.
4-7-8 Breathing
This technique, made famous by Dr. Andrew Weil, places the body into a state of deep relaxation. I use it on long flights to help fall asleep.
Take a breath in, then exhale through your mouth with a whoosh sound.
Close the mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of four.
Hold for a count of seven.
Exhale completely through your mouth, with a whoosh, to the count of eight.
Repeat this cycle for at least four breaths.
References:
Created:: 2022-04-02 15:04