One of my favorite parts of my yoga teacher training was learning the anatomy of our bodies; including our nervous system and how breath work impacts our health!
In short and very simple terms, our breath affects our nervous system both sympathetic (fight or flight response) and parasympathetic (rest and relaxation). An inhale will activate our sympathetic nervous system. This means that when we inhale (or on our inspiration) -our heart rate increases; however, when we exhale (or on our expiration) our heart rate declines as exhales active our parasympathetic nervous system.
This is beneficial becuase in times of stress, high anxiety, or hard workouts we can turn to our breath!! For example, if you start to become overwhelmed, reducing your inhale to four seconds and extending your exhale for six to eight seconds repeatedly can slow your heart rate and decrease your nervous energy and overwhelmed feeling. When exercising, and specifically in yoga, we move with our breath. We extend with an inhale (for example inhaling to mountain pose) and contract with exhales (exhale to forward fold). In yoga we call our breath "Pranayama."
I wanted to share with you my favorite breathing technique that is used to intentially calm our mind and nervous system. I have used it to de-stress, calm myself before a big test, or honestly even just to relax myself before going to bed. It's called 4-7-8 breathing.
Inhale through your nose for four seconds
Hold your breath for seven seconds
Exhale through your mouth for eight seconds
Becuase of the extended exhale, this activates your parasympathetic nervous system, the rest & digest one, and leads to relaxation. In addition, it serves as a form of meditation, brining your mind from racing or repetitive thoughts to focus on counting your breath.
I hope through reading this post you learned something new! Next time you are anxious, overwhelmed, stuck, or just can't fall asleep, try giving the 4-7-8 technique a try!!
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