Breathing, a skill to be improved!

Family, friends, personal assets and everything that surrounds us will disappear at some point, but what will accompany us until the end, and that deserves our full attention, is our breath. What if instead of living passively by its side, we try to dominate it and use it to our advantage? To what extent can it improve our body bio chemistry, our mental state and therefore, improve our life?

Controlling our thoughts becomes an attractive challenge for all of us, since in this way, we can ensure that we will feel satisfied and happy for longer. But another way to approach it is in the opposite direction, winning our day through our body and not through our mind. As expected, modern science continues to surprise us, and now we know that we can alter our nervous system voluntarily, leaving us in a way in charge of the release of certain hormones that determine how we feel at every moment, but before, some context on the subject.

Depending on our environment, it will be activated to a greater or lesser extent, either the sympathetic nervous system or the parasympathetic nervous system, both in charge of similar functions, (heart rate, blood pressure, release of certain neurotransmitters, pulmonary system or gastrointestinal system) with opposite results. Our body will react to the situation we face, using the most appropriate system for that moment.

• Faced with a situation of imminent modern danger, such as the annual tax return or the next medical check-up, the sympathetic nervous system will take control, activate the "flight or fight" response and it will prepare our body for it: Elevating our pressure blood, increasing our heart rate, dilating our pupils, releasing adrenaline, norepinephrine and epinephrine, decreasing bowel movements, contracting our muscles...
• On the other hand, in a situation of calm and tranquility, such as the moment before going to sleep or a moment of relaxation sunbathing on the beach, the parasympathetic nervous system will take control, activating the "rest and digest" response and it will prepare our body for it: Decreasing our blood pressure, decreasing our heart rate, contracting our pupils, releasing acetylcholine, increasing bowel movements, relaxing our muscles...

Isn't it just fascinating that we can somehow control all of these mechanisms through the voluntary use of our breath? But how?

"During the inhalation phase of a breathing cycle, the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) facilitates a brief acceleration of heart rate; during exhalation, the vagus nerve secretes a transmitter substance (ACh) which causes deceleration within beat-to-beat intervals via the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) " (Christopher Bergland, 2019)

Taking powerful inhalations and exhalations will activate the sympathetic nervous system. On the contrary, taking long, calm inhalations and exhalations will activate the parasympathetic nervous system.

It is up to us to choose what we need at all times: Motivation to start the day with energy or face a demanding training? Or, pause to consider a decision or perhaps to go to sleep? We must use our breath!

NH

Zwaag J. (2014, May 20) Voluntary activation of the sympathetic nervous system and attenuation of the innate immune response in humans. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4034215/

Harvard Health Publishing (2020, July 6) Understanding the stress response https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-the-stress-response