It's no secret now that even a few minutes of slow and controlled breathing every day can do wonders for the mind and body. Yet most people still can't find those precious few minutes.
Why?
Because most people have never been consistent enough with it to really experience the benefits. But for those who go through the Reconnect Instructor Certification, they've not only felt the benefits, they've reduced their heart rates, decreased their anxiety, improved recovery time, eliminated insomnia, and even re-aligned their jaws after years of misalignment and pain.
Science-backed Breathwork
When we say the science is slowly catching up, we're not exaggerating. People have been using these practices for thousands of years in places like Tibet, China, India, and Japan. Nonetheless, when we find patterns between history and science, it's so interesting.
Back in 2001, researchers at the University of Pavia (Italy) gathered two dozen subjects, covered them with sensors to measure blood flow, heart rate, and nervous system feedback, then had them recite a Buddhist mantra as well as verses from the rosary. They found the average number of breaths for each cycle was “almost exactly” identical, just a bit quicker than the pace of the Hindu, Taoist, and Native American prayers:
5.5 breaths a minute.
Whenever they practiced this breathing pattern, blood flow to the brain increased, and the systems in the body entered a state of coherence in which the functions of cardiovascular, circulatory, and nervous systems were coordinated symmetrically. The moment the subjects returned to spontaneous breathing, their hearts would beat a little more erratically, and the integration of these systems would slowly collapse. A few more slow and relaxed breaths, and it would return again.
A decade after the Pavia tests, Patricia Gerbarg and Richard Brown, two renowned professors in New York, used the same breathing pattern on patients with anxiety and depression, minus the praying. Some of these patients had trouble breathing slowly, so Gerbarg and Brown recommended they start with an easier rhythm of three‑second inhales with at least the same length exhale. As the patients got more comfortable, they breathed in and breathed out longer.
It turned out the most efficient breathing rhythm occurred when both the length of respirations and total breaths per minute were locked in to a unique symmetry: 5.5‑second inhales followed by 5.5‑second exhales, which works out almost exactly to 5.5 breaths per minute—the same pattern of the rosary.
The results were amazing, even when practiced for just five to 10 minutes a day. He and Gerbarg used this slow breathing technique to restore the lungs of 9/11 survivors who suffered from a chronic and painful cough caused by the debris, a horrendous condition called ground‑glass lungs. There was no known cure for this ailment, and, yet, after just two months, patients achieved a significant improvement by simply learning to practice a few rounds of slow breathing a day.
These equal breaths, in which you breathe in for the same amount of time as you breathe out, is also known as coherent breathing. This 5.5 second coherent practice makes up just half of tenacious breath. The other half is ocean breath.
Learning Ocean Breath
Yogis have been using this technique for centuries - and for good reason - it's your best friend when it comes to breath control. It's technically a friction breath so it creates heat in your body but also helps you control the speed of your inhales and exhales.
To perform ocean breath, you'll constrict your throat as if you're fogging up a mirror on a chilly morning. You'll be using similar muscles as if you were whispering.
Try it now. Take a breath in and as you exhale gently constrict the throat and let the air out nice and slow. Practice that a few times. The more you do it, try and see the difference it makes when you constrict harder or softer.
If you're having difficulty, check out the video above for a longer explanation.
Once you've mastered ocean breath, you're ready for Tenacious Breath!
Is 10 Minutes Long Enough?
We all want to experience the benefits of a wellness practice, but many of us don't want to really put in the time. Well, we feel like a solid practice (one that can do absolute wonders on the body and mind) consists of at least 20 minutes per day.
Organizations like the Cleveland Clinic and research from Cell Reports Medicine show that 10, even 5, minutes a day can do wonders on your body. If you break it down, 10 minutes of 5.5 second breaths comes out to just over 50 breaths. Doing that every day for one week means you've just taken 350 mindful breaths and slowed your heart rate, blood pressure, and beta waves (high beta waves are what you generally experience during anxiety attacks and chronic stress).
If you think about 10 minutes a day in terms of a snowball, the more often you take that time and breathe, the bigger that snowball becomes. Eventually, you'll have a big enough snowball that when anxiety really starts to hit you, you'll have a strong defense. And no, I don't mean you'll want to violently chuck the snowball at anyone who's causing that anxiety to build. But you'll have more patience and less desire to spiral out of control.
Can Anyone Perform Tenacious Breath?
Unlike more powerful breath exercises, tenacious breath is a more gentle practice that doesn't put any pressure on the internal organs or breathing muscles, so anyone can practice tenacious breath. However, for anyone who is pregnant, if 5.5 feels difficult or stressful, reduce the length of your breaths to 3 or 4 seconds.
If you enjoyed this article and want to learn more, check out our FREE 5-day breathwork course here. To take the full jump and become a certified Reconnect breath & cold instructor, check out our upcoming trainings here.
For those of you traveling to Playa del Carmen and want to book an ice bath, then book a session to experience breathwork and the cold plunge.
Finally, to really get into the history of breath, check out James Nestor's book, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art.
KEVIN CONNELLY
Kevin is the founder of Reconnect Breath and has led thousands of cold enthusiasts through breathwork and ice bath experiences in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. He holds a number of breathwork certifications and studied with breath expert and best-selling author James Nestor. Kevin delivers breathwork and cold exposure trainings for retreats and corporate events.
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