The Art of Breathing

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are my own and are not a representation of my employers or clients.

Breathe

(verb)- take air into the lungs and then expel it, especially as a regular physiological process.

Whether you like to breathe, take breaths, or just breathe on some people, there is no denying the essential needs of this lost art and how useful it is to your SEL toolkits. Interestingly, breathing is free but somehow appears to be costly for those of us who might be overstressed, overworked, or just overloaded. In this joint, we will try to unpack the foundational needs of breathing by examining breath-work a little closer. No; this ain't gonna be about meditation sorry about that, we will do that soon. This piece is more about the science and art of breathing which intertwines with the health & safety of your self-management skills.

 The Facts of Breath

There’s this book, Breathe, by John Nestor that really hones in on the ins-and-outs of breathing and why it is so critical to our livelihood. The author went to the EXTReme to figure out some of the most amazing things I’ve ever learned about breathing. Spoiler alert>> I knew that breathing through the nostrils is the best antidote to living a healthy-life-stylist-life (if that's even a phrase). I also knew that mouth breathing causes bad breath, changes the size of your mouth, and can make your teeth crooked. However, I did not know that healthy nose breathing can heal asthma, some forms of cancer, and depression amongst other things. Back to Nestor, he studied skulls, ancient times, and even stuck silicon with cotton up his nostrils to cure himself (from illness). But he also did this to help us understand the benefits of nose breathing vs the bads of open mouth breathing.

                        “Mouthbreathing, it turns out, changes the physical body and transforms airways, all for the worse. Inhaling air through the mouth decreases pressure, which causes the soft tissues in the back of the mouth to become loose and flex inward, creating less space and making breathing more difficult. Mouthbreathing begets more mouthbreathing.” (Breath)

Just to make sure my mind wasn’t playing tricks on me. I reached out to my dentist Dr. Jeffrey C. Hoos, DMD FAGD, to ask him why breathing out of your mouth is considered unhealthy.

Me: Yo Doctor Hoos it’s me, I’m writing this piece about why breathing out of the mouth is so unhealthy.

Dr. Hoos: easy answer… breathing out of your mouth, dries out your mouth and dries the bacteria or biofilm on your teeth and gums; also, tissues need to be hydrated to be healthy... hope your great

Me: Gracias Dr. Hoos see you soon.

Suffice to say that the more you breathe from your mouth the less oxygen your lungs receive making other parts of your body and mind feel those changes. If you’re like me who suffers from seasonal allergies, or stuffy noses, snoring, or sleep apnea- breathing out your mouth begins to impact your reasoning and overall mood (feeling woozy, headaches, or lightheaded). Furthermore, these side effects can even become panic attacks, insomnia, just because of the airway blockages. AAAAANNDD, not to be graphic but for those of us who have visits to the EMT doctors like Nestor; we all know too well the endoscopy cams and how not great it feels to have the squirmy tube up your nostrils and beyond. Sadly, it gets worse, there are some of us who have nasal obstruction which is simply the mucus or bacteria that floats to parts of your brain.”He grabs a steel needle with a wire brush at the end, about the size of a mascara brush. I’m thinking, he’s not going to put that thing up my nose. A few seconds later, he puts that thing up my nose.” Sorry about that guys.

The Power of The Nose

I thought Nestor’s book was a phenomenal read. He unpacked for me the powers of the nose and how it directly connects to our emotional output and feelings.

⍣       Your right nostril is more like the accelerator (red high energy on Mood Meter above)

 The body gets hotter, raises cortisone levels, increases heart rate stores the “fight or flight’ response.-              

⍣     Your left nostril breathing (green tranquil on Mood Meter) lowers blood pressure, cools the body, and reduces anxiety.

To tie this all in, the nose centralizes the body to reduce mental health lapses and improves the mind’s balances to secure living longer stress-free lives. In order to spread these positive outcomes, YOU must find the breathing techniques that work for you.

Nestor “Be Like”

Before we dive into the “how” of the healthy practices correlated with good breathing. AAnndd Before Nestor rediscovered his best-self and his newly found lungful euphoria. There were studies on top of studies - about what are the correct ways to breathe for all mankind. Here is a glimpse of what our boy Nestor studied or tried during his journey to find answers.

Sudarshan Kriya. Introductory Course in breathing- it is a Zen-like breathing technique that prompts hallucinations to rid the body of toxins.

Studied the work of Dr. Marianna Evans, who dedicated her years looking into the mouths of human skulls.

Greece Underwater Divers experiment, research and trained with divers who were able to hold their breaths for up to 12 minutes in 300 ft of water.

Studied George Catlin’s work of 1838 who traveled the world researching Native American tribes to learn why their populations all managed to have perfect teeth and mouths; hence, lived longer, and healthier because of their nostril breathing and diets.

There is so much that I can say about Nestor’s work and will provide a link to this book to support those who want to learn more about this practice.

Don’t Sweat the Technique

Fast vs. Slow breathing techniques:  now that we’re all convinced that the nose is the best way to go when we are discussing healthy/safe breathing. Let’s explore what type of breathing works best.

Nestor: There are dozens of alternate nostrils breathing techniques. I’ve started with the most basic. It involves placing an index finger over the left nostril and then inhaling and exhaling only through the right.

Ø  Surya bheda pranayama, which involves taking one breath into the right nostril, then exhaling through the left for several rounds.

Ø  Deep breathing count 1-10: created by Carl Stough (1940) aka “Dr. Breath” he was not a doctor (a musician really)  but discovered that shallow breathing limits the range of our diaphragms and lung capacity. Dr. Breath realized that effective nasal breathing improves our posture- which ultimately heals diseases like asthma, emphysema, and other upper respiratory illnesses. Paraphrasing yall, spurt breathing feels like it caves our rib cages especially if you already have struggles with breathing. To add on,  it affects our lung density and breath delivery, makes us feel depressed, and immobile at times. However, slow deliberate nostril inhales and similar-like exhales will calm your energy allowing your positive mind/lung chakras to awaken, thank you, Carl Stough!

Start counting from one to ten over and over with every exhale. “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10—then keep repeating it,” she said. At the end of the exhale, when I was so out of breath I couldn’t vocalize anymore, I was to keep counting, but to do so silently, letting my voice trail down into a “sub-whisper.”

In conclusion, the less breath you spend the healthier your body and mind will respond. This means that minimizing your efforts of inhaling while stressing your exhaling equally; will generate more carbon monoxide levels which improves your lung strength, expands your cardiovascular system, and stretches your lifeline.

How far are you willing to go, to get healthy?                  

What are you willing to do, to try to feel and look better?

Just breathe….

“Till next Time Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel”

References:

Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel (remix)

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/breathe

Nestor, J. (2020).  Breath. Penguin U.S

Fabolous - Breathe (Instrumental)