Truly, slowly, deeply
Fernwood magazine: February/March, 2008

It’s the most natural thing in the world, but the way you breathe can have a profound impact on your fitness, health and everyday wellbeing.

There’s more to breathing than simply taking in oxygen. With every inhale and exhale, an important exchange of gases occurs, with the body performing a delicate balancing act to ensure the tissues are getting enough oxygen, and a sufficient amount of carbon dioxide is being released.

Carbon dioxide is a natural by-product of metabolism, or the body’s production of energy. The more your exert yourself, the more carbon dioxide is produced by the muscles and accumulates in the blood. Tiny sensors in your brain tell the lungs to breathe more to help you get rid of the excess carbon dioxide and take in more oxygen.

As anyone who’s ever overdone it and been left gasping for breath knows, the feeling of not having enough air can be very distressing, with light-headedness, shortness of breath and possible dizziness accompanied by a pounding heart.

Ruling out asthma or pulmonary diseases, the problem may not be that you’re not getting enough breath, but that you’re getting too much.
Buteyko practitioner Catherine Vitali says many people breathe too much, believing that the more they breathe the more oxygen they take in. “People often increase their breathing consciously, not realising that over-breathing causes less oxygen to be released into the organs, tissues and cells as a result of breathing out too much carbon dioxide,” she explains. 
The concept of ‘over-breathing’ is key to the Buteyko breathing method, which has been shown to have great benefits for asthmatics. “Over-breathing is tiring or even exhausting. It is often shallow – felt in the upper chest – accompanied by a feeling of not being able to get a satisfying breath,” says Catherine.

She goes on to say that over-breathing comes with increased tension in the diaphragm, upper chest, back and shoulder muscles, accompanied by a weakening of the core muscles. Also common are feelings of anxiety for no reason, mood swings, restlessness and a lack of ‘get up and go’.
Yoga teacher Simone Wismer agrees, saying the breath is linked intimately to all aspects of human experience. “Breathing is the most vital process of the body. Respiration fuels the burning of oxygen and glucose, producing energy to power every muscle contraction, glandular secretion and mental process.”

“Rhythmic, deep and slow respiration stimulates and is stimulated by a calm, content state of mind. It increases the absorption of energy, enhancing dynamism, vitality and wellbeing,” she says.
When it comes to exercise, huffing and puffing your way through a workout won’t do you any favours. Aaron Coutts, exercise and sports science lecturer and member of the Fernwood Scientific Advisory Board, says, “Inability to regulate breathing effectively during exercise can affect your workout – it can cause distress. A well-controlled exercise program with proper progression and supervision is recommended to train your body to avoid this.”

By a nose
You probably breathe around 12 times per minute, taking in some 500L of air. The first steps to improving the quality of your breath are to start paying attention to it – and to shut your mouth.

“Your nose acts as a filtering system for the air entering your body,” explains Catherine. “It ensures clean, moist and warm air is received into the lungs.”
 Breathing through the nose protects you from airborne diseases such as the flu by producing an enzyme that kills off most bacterial and viral particles before they can infect you [subs note]. Effectively sterilised, the air is also rapidly heated and moistened so it doesn’t dry out the throat and chest.
Another great benefit to breathing through the nose is that the volume of air is restricted, ensuring that the balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide is achieved.

Aaron says, “Everyone should work on having good breathing control during exercise. This can be difficult if you haven’t trained for a while and are unfit. To avoid this, you should start slowly and progress gradually.” He goes on to say that while there are benefits to breathing through the nose while resting, when it comes to exercise, the most important point is to just keep breathing.

Not getting enough?
If you feel like you can’t get enough air while exercising, you may in fact be hyperventilating – or breathing too much. “Slow down, relax, close your mouth and breathe gently through your nose,” says Catherine.

And breathing heavily is not the aim of a good workout. As Catherine explains, “Breathing increases naturally with effort, you don’t need to consciously increase it. Doing so will mean less oxygen will be available for the muscles to make energy.”

Yogic breathing also works on the principles slowly, deeply and nasally. “Breathing through the nose establishes a slower, deeper breathing rhythm,” says Simone. Try this breathing technique to become aware of your respiratory system and breathing pattern:

• Sit in a comfortable upright position
• Observe the natural spontaneous breathing process. Develop total awareness of the rhythmic flow of the breath.
• Feel the breath flowing in and out of the nose. Do not control the breath in any way.
• Notice that the breath is cool as it enters the nostrils and warm as it flows out.
• Feel the breath flowing in and out at the back of the mouth above the throat.
• Bring your awareness down to the region of the throat and feel the breath flowing in the throat.
• Bring your awareness to the region of the chest and feel the breath flowing in the trachea and bronchial tubes.
• Next, feel the breath flowing in the lungs. Be aware of the lungs expanding and relaxing.
• Shift the attention to the rib cage and observe the expansion and relaxation of this area.
• Bring your awareness down to the abdomen. Feel the abdomen move upward on inhalation and downward on exhalation.
• Finally, become aware of the whole breathing process from the nostrils to the abdomen and continue observing it for some time.
• Bring the awareness back to observing the physical body as one unit and open the eyes.