Breathe well, Breathe slow

​In a world where stressors come from all direction and in all forms, we tend to forget to do one simple yet important thing. That is, breathing.
Breathing is an activity that we take for granted, but it is a powerful life force. Without breaths, there is no life, it’s just a plain fact.
There are various breathing techniques that are gaining popularity and attention these days. Each to their own can bring benefits in different ways. However, let’s keep it simple and basic.  Can you belly breathe? Can you do diaphragmatic breathing? That is when you do a deep breathe in, you should notice your belly raises up first and followed by your chest rise, then your shoulders. Breathing in this way is the best way to reduce the sympathetic (fight/flight) tone and brings you to the parasympathetic (rest/digest/heal) state.
One more simple thing with breathing, especially as the world around us operates in such fast pace is to breathe slow… yes, slow it down with your inhales and exhales.
A key feature of slow breathing techniques is that they cause increased activation of the parasympathetic nervous system through modulation of vagal activity. The rise in parasympathetic activation induced by slow breathing is associated with states of calmness and reduced stress. Numerous studies have demonstrated significant reductions in stress reported by participants engaging in breathing exercises.
In one study examining the effects of breathwork on stress and mental health, 40 participants were randomly assigned to either a breathing intervention group or a control group. Participants in the breathing intervention group experienced a significant decrease in negative affect compared with those in the control group. Participants in the breathing intervention group also experienced lower levels of salivary cortisol compared with participants in the control group, for whom no changes in cortisol level were documented compared with baseline levels. In addition, participants in the breathwork group demonstrated improvements over baseline in sustained attention that were not observed in the control group.
Chiropractic care also contributes to better breathing through the adjustments, which can help in opening the thoracic and rib cage for better motion which influences the movement and activity of the diaphragm which is the main breathing muscles. Another benefit of Chiropractic care is the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system that allows you to rest and heal better.
Everything around us moves fast sometimes and it can be overwhelming. So, breathe well, breathe slow and allow the body to slow down, recover and heal.
 

1. Zaccaro A, Piarulli A, Laurino M, et al. How breath-control can change your life: a systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing. Front Hum Neurosci. 2018;12:353. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2018.00353
2. Brown RP, Gerbarg PL. Sudarshan Kriya yogic breathing in the treatment of stress, anxiety, and depression: part I-neurophysiologic model. J Altern Complement Med. 2005;11(1):189-201. doi:10.1089/acm.2005.11.189
3. Fincham GW, Strauss C, Montero-Marin J, Cavanagh K. Effect of breathwork on stress and mental health: a meta-analysis of randomised-controlled trials. Sci Rep. 2023;13(1):432. doi:10.1038/s41598-022-27247-y

Ma X, Yue Z-Q, Gong Z-Q, et al. The effect of diaphragmatic breathing on attention, negative affect and stress in healthy adults. Front Psychol. 2017;8:874. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00874