deep breathing
Sometimes high blood pressure is due to cardiac issues, excess salt and inflammation. Sometimes it’s due to not breathing. I have had patients talk with me about their stressful jobs, stressful people they must tolerate, stressful life circumstances, all of which cause a tightening and clenching of muscles and shallow breathing. Just being at the doctor’s office or in experiencing pain can provoke feelings of anxiety. Then I check a patient’s blood pressure and –it’s elevated. We can relive stressors as though they were happening in the here and now and thus enter the fight-or-flight (sympathetic) state of nervous system.
I then invite us to do a short breathing exercise and visualization together, just to clear out the stress and put us into the present moment of safety, the rest-and-digest (parasympathetic) state of nervous system. Often, blood pressure comes waaaay down. My patients leave the office feeling better. But perhaps they then get in their car, start mentally reviewing their to-do list, or check their phone to find missed calls and texts. Suddenly, the body constricts and fight-or-flight is back
How can we remember to breathe deeply and stay present in our bodies on an ongoing basis? Yogis teach us that by practicing deep breathing daily, it becomes a habit. I ask patients to set an alarm on the computer to remember to breathe throughout the day. I ask patients to link taking deep breaths with drinking water (see post on water), ensuring a break every hour to hydrate as well as reconnect with the body through breath.
I also recommend deep breathing before responding to a person or situation that tends to provoke stress. In a staff meeting where tension is running high, notice your breath and if it’s shallow and constricted, fill the lungs and fill the belly. Following these instructions, many people can bring their blood pressure down naturally, decrease anxiety, sleep more soundly and make it easier to take the next steps toward healthy mind/body balancing.
When we breathe deeply, we stimulate the vagus nerve, a very long nerve that runs from brain to our innards, and which innervates the diaphragm. When we stretch the diaphragm by taking a deep belly breath, we stimulate the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve puts us into the parasympathetic state of nervous system: rest and digest. It’s so simple when you break it down! We are stressed, we want to fight, we want to flee. We stop and breathe instead and presto – we rest, we digest our food, we smile, we become present.
To live, we must breathe. In a natural death, the first thing that stops is the breath. The breath lives us. As my yoga teacher says each class: “Your breath is your lifelong dance partner.”
So why are we not breathing fully, deeply, and while we are at it, fully enjoying each one? It’s free, it’s portable, it’s absolutely safe and non-toxic, and can be enjoyed anywhere, anytime, in any setting.
Let’s breathe together. Before we begin, think of a number that represents your stress level. Just trust the number that pops in your head. This number represents your current level of stressed-out-edness.
Now.
Inhale through the nose deeply to the count of 4.
Hold to the count of 5.
Exhale through pursed lips to the slow count of 6.
Again, inhale deeply, through the nose, to the count of 4.
Hold to the count of 5.
Exhale slowly through pursed lips, to the slow count of 6.
And once more.
Inhale very slowly and through the nose to the count of 4.
Hold to the count of 5.
And exhale slowly, gently, peacefully through pursed lips or by making a sound on exhalation such as “ahhhhhh,” to the beautiful count of 6.
Now, again, please rate your level of stress. Is the number higher, lower, or the same? If it’s lower, you have just tapped into the magic that is mind over matter. We CAN harness and direct our nervous systems. We CAN influence our physiology. It only requires our attention and practice.