Physiology of the Breath
Arguably our favourite part of what we do for patients (…and friends) is breathwork. Working with this innate function and learning how to utilize it to elicit a specific response is so so so powerful, and it’s incredible to be able to facilitate that for others.
Breathwork is just that: working the breath. It can involve changing speed, depth, rhythm, and location (nose, mouth, belly, chest) — each creating a different result.
If we want to SPEED the heart rate up, primarily to energize the body, we WANT to activate the sympathetic nervous system. We spend a lot of time trying to shut this system down, and rightly so, but this fight or flight system is necessary. It’s about how we use it.
To do this, we want to inhale longer or more rapidly than our exhale. When we inhale, the diaphragm moves down, creating more space in the chest cavity for the heart. This slows blood flow to the heart because there is less pressure in the area, which left alone would reduce the amount of blood then flowing out of the heart to the rest of the body (problematic). So, signals from the heart get sent to the brain stem to tell it that blood flow is slowing, which results in feedback back to the heart telling it to speed up to get more blood flow going in and out.
If we want to SLOW the heart rate down, to reduce the sensation of stress, anxiety, overwhelm, etc — then we need to engage the parasympathetic nervous system, or rest and digest system.
We want exhalation emphasized breathing — exhaling longer or more rapidly than inhaling. Exhalation pushes the diaphragm up, reducing the space for the heart in the chest, which would continue to cause the heart to beat faster if left unchecked. Instead, signals get sent to the brain to slow the heart rate down to compensate.
AND, during extended exhalation, the alveoli in the lungs (tiny air sacs that are responsible for breathing) release more carbon dioxide than typical breathing, and that extra CO2 relaxes you quickly. It takes 20-30 seconds for the heart rate to slow down to prevent compensating too quickly (vaso vagal response) and passing out. So give it time.
