I had a revelation this week. Breathing is really important! No duh
right?
Ok let me rephrase that: how you
breathe is really important.
It can
reduce stress, relieve muscle tension, and improve mobility. How we breathe relates to stress or our
response to stress and our nervous system.
When I was in the military and as a police officer they always told us
to take a deep breathe in a stressful situation. The idea was that you controlled the
stress since fight or flight in those careers is something you don’t really get to choose.
So how
does that apply to normal life? Your
body only recognizes stress not what the stress actually is. Stress can be your boss or it can be a life and death
situation. Your body will respond to them as equal threats. The problem with your boss (or
whatever) is that he doesn't go away, whereas life and death situations only last a few seconds
and you move on (hopefully). Since many of these stresses are going to be a constant in your life, it's important to learn how to manage them, and breathing can definitely help.
So the science stuff:
Sympathetic Nervous System: In as simple terms as possible
this system is responsible for the fight or flight response to STRESS.
Parasympathetic Nervous System: In as simple terms as possible this system is
responsible for poop and sex. It handles the more relaxing stuff.
So what does breathing have to do with this? When you breathe does your chest expand or
does your belly expand?
If your chest expands like an 18 year old boy walking around
in a gym when you breathe you are using
the sympathetic nervous system and overusing muscles of the neck and back. Think about when you get startled you shrug
up through your shoulders. The way we live
our lives puts us a constant stress, which can be the cause of numerous
problems. So how can you help this and
use your parasympathetic nervous system?BELLY BREATHING! This is one of the simplest things you can do to help relax, relieve stress, tension, and move better.
Here are some techniques:
The key is feeling your belly expand not your chest. Breathe in through the nose out through the mouth. So as you lay on the floor you want to feel your belly push
into it as you breathe IN. Air in Belly out!
Here is an example:
Another example is laying on your back with your feet
elevated: Again Air in BELLY OUT! Putting hands on your belly reminds you to do
this. The straw helps, but is not
necessary.
Justin Thomas
Instinct Fitness
Sources:
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