How Important Is Breathing? Can You Breathe Incorrectly? What Is Slow Breathing?
We can survive a few days without drinking water and a few weeks without food, but how long can a person survive without drawing air into their lungs? Inhale, exhale, start your timer and see!
The chances are that if you stopped breathing, you would ruin your weekend completely at the very least. Breathing is an essential part of our body function, and it’s the closest we get to experiencing death every waking moment. Stop breathing, and you end your existence.
There are wonderful examples of how using deep (not shallow) breathing can help us reduce stress, accept cold, and expand our abilities stimulating the autonomic nervous system and reducing inflammation (Kox et al., 2014).
So yes, breathing is important, and yes, everyone breathes. But in our modern lives, we don’t use our body functionality as much as we used to as humans. Now we stick to sedentary lives, expecting our health to be good.
We sit when we eat, study, work, or even in the car, bus, or a plane. Sit, sit, sit… While sitting has become a standard in our society, our bodies don’t benefit from the natural and full oxygen circulation that’s needed for our organs to function properly.
This leads to ailments that simply confirm our decision to sit: digestion problems, knee pain, vein varicose, hernias, lower and upper back, neck, muscle mass loss, and even brain fog in some cases.
We need oxygen to function, and to function well, we need to supply our bodies with enough oxygen.
Even when we exercise in nature or at the gym, since we haven’t used the right muscles and were not trained, we fail to breathe efficiently and either not do it well or overdo it.
However, the result is that we may feel out of breath, tense, need to slow down, or even stop our activity due to bad or irregular breathing – bad oxygen supply. All of this results in additional stress, which consequently increases the levels of Cortisol. Well you got the point.
Our bodies are resilient and can survive and adapt, but why choose to survive and compensate one part of the body with another? The same happens with breathing. Why cause stress when you can thrive?
You have 8x more space
A person inhales approximately 0.5 litres of air, depending on the body size. Our lungs can hold a maximum of 4-6 litres of air after a full breath, which is known as the total lung capacity. It’s surprising to learn that our lungs can accommodate over 8 times more air with vital oxygen than we breathe in (0.5 litres).
We’ve forgotten how to breathe properly and have deprived our organs, including our brains, of the oxygen they need to function.
When we breathe in low amounts, we limit our body’s abilities and cause inflamations, low cell nutrition, that results in health issues and pain.
Breathing techniques can be powerful tools to control our bodily functions. Sine breathing, for example, can be used to calm the body. By slowing down our breathing, our heart rate slows down, making us feel more relaxed and at ease. On the other hand, fast and shallow breaths can indicate stress and anxiety.
Zone 2 exercise
Even in sports, especially long-distance runs, it’s important to keep your breath as slow and steady as possible. Slowing down your heart rate to the BPM Zone 2 and calming your body can allow you to perform well for hours making 20-40 or 70 km + run doable. This wouldn’t be possible if you breathed fast and shallow, as you would simply get exhausted.
To make slow breath work, target heart rate zones generally fall between 60-70% of your maximum heart rate (MHR). This corresponds to a range of 130-149 beats per minute (bpm) for a 30-year-old with a maximum heart rate of 186. If you have a chest heart rate monitor (far more accurate than optical writs monitor/watch), you could find out your MHR by doing some exercise with maximum effort (running up the hill several times). Alternatively, you could use a formula: MHR = 220 – age. The easiest way is simply to maintain a conversational pace – running with a buddy.
This type of training, using a lower heart rate (Zone 2), focusses on building endurance, improving oxygen utilisation, and reducing injury risk compared to faster, shorter runs.
If you try to maintain a higher pace, at first it is challenge to find the rhythm where your heart rate is within the limits of Zone 2. But once you find it you will start feeling when you are in the Zone even without any tech.
The Wim Hof Method
The Wim Hof Method breathing technique involves rapid deep breaths through the mouth followed by breath holding. It typically starts with 30 to 40 deep breaths, then a breath hold until the urge to breathe returns, followed by a final 15-second breath hold. The whole cycle is often repeated 3-4 times.
I’ve used it deal with stress and anxiety, and to train myself to experience cold during my 12 months challenge where I plunged into open water at least once per week in any weather. ANY weather in Lithuania.
Wim Hoff method is a great place to start, as fast deep breaths will help expand the rib cage, engage the diaphragm, and help you feel the power of oxygen and activate a Can-do attitude.
With time you may teach yourself enter the cold water or deal with stress naturally breathing slowly and steady.
Rebirthing
Another example is Rebirthing. This breath-work utilises continuously flowing breaths through the mouth without any pauses between inhale and exhale. It’s a key element in the practice, which aims to release emotional and physical blockages. The breath-work itself takes 20-45 minutes in most cases.
Personally I have experienced 1,5 hours breathing sessions and noticed that this type of circular breathing does evoke emotions and yes, you get to face them and it is wonderful way to integrate past traumas.
Mastering the Slow Breath
Whilst there are many different approaches to breathing, let’s discuss what a full breath is.
A full breath (yogi breath) consists of utilising all three: abdominal breathing (expanding the belly), middle breathing (expanding the rib cage), and upper breathing (inhaling into the top of the chest) all that is performed through the nose. How to do it correclty?
Abdominal breathing
Sit comfortably or lie down in Shavasana and by placing your hand on your navel, try to inhale only to that part of your belly and feel how the air expands it. Exhale, feeling the navel coming closer to your spine. This is abdominal breathing. Do it for 10-20 times.
Middle breathing
Bend your elbows and place your palms on each side of your ribs. The left palm should cover your left side of the chest, while the right palm rests on the right side of your rib cage. Slightly engage your abdomen. Breathe in deeply into this area, feeling your ribs expand. Then, release and feel your ribs contract – this is the middle breathing. Repeat this for 10-20 times.
Upper breathing
To practice upper breathing, avoid contracting your abdomen or chest. Keep your hands on your chest to monitor its movement. We don’t want it to move. Instead, slightly contract your abdominal muscles and try to inhale, drawing your collarbone and shoulders towards your chin. This may feel challenging at first. A helpful technique is to inhale and exhale with a sniffing action, which naturally induces upper breathing. On exhalation, let your collarbone and shoulders move away from your chin. While it’s not necessary to perform this many times, it will help you understand this part of your body better.
Joining all three – Full Breath (yogi breathing)
Start by inhaling slowly, allowing your abdomen to expand. Try to breathe so slowly that there’s little or no sound. At the end of abdominal expansion, when you feel the area is full, start to expand your chest outward and upward. At the end of this movement, draw your collarbone and shoulders towards your head, completing the inhalation.
The entire process should be a continuous movement, with each phase merging seamlessly into the next. Avoid jerks or unnecessary strain. Your breathing should be like the swell of the sea – calm and relaxed.
Now, start to exhale by relaxing your shoulders and collarbone. Allow your chest to move first downwards towards your feet, then inwards, and finally, allow your abdomen to contract. Don’t strain; try to empty your lungs as much as possible by pulling your abdomen as close to your spine. This completes a full round of a yogi breath. Hold your breath for a second or two at the end of each inhalation and exhalation.
Start with 5 rounds and gradually extend to 5 and later 10 minutes. A daily breath practice works wonders. Not only will it make you less susceptible to illness and increase your power and vitality, but it will also help you feel calm during your daily activities. Your thinking capacity and clarity of thought will also improve.
Yogi breathing naturally helps you utilise your abdominal, middle, and upper breath throughout the day. This way, you’ll inhale the full amount of air your body needs for nourishment and good health. Scientific researches confirm that slow breathing maximises oxygen delivery and reduces stress (Zaccaro et al., 2018).
Try to consciously develop a habit of full breathing for a few seconds or minutes. If you feel tired or angry, sit down or lie down in Shavasana and practice yogi breathing. If you can breathe slowly, your mind will become calm and revitalised.
Audrius