Blood pressure, insomnia, weakness -- here's how deep breathing can help deal with many health problems!

“and I wonder if Beethoven held his breath
the first time his fingers touched the keys
the same way a soldier holds his breath
the first time his finger clicks the trigger.
We all have different reasons for forgetting to breathe.”
― Andrea Gibson, an award-winning poet and activist from Colorado, USA.

And these are not the only times we forget to breathe. We stop breathing for a moment when we are surprised, astounded, frightened and even when we are ecstatic. Our breathing becomes fast and shallow when we are angry; we breathe rapidly when we are anxious or stressed.

Actually, stress and anxiety attacks cause the rapid shallow breathing syndrome which is medically termed tachypnea. It is sometimes interchangeably used with the term hyperventilation, which is when you are taking rapid, deep breaths. Normal breathing for an adult is 8 to 16 breaths per minute, though an infant may breathe up to 44 times a minute. According to the WHO criteria, a respiratory rate of more than 20 breaths per minute (or sometimes, 25 breaths /minute) in adults is categorised as tachypnea.

Symptoms you may be experiencing with shallow breathing

You might not be aware that you are breathing fast but you will be aware of symptoms such as-

Chest pain
Palpitations (you can feel your heart pounding or racing, and your heart rate is over 100 beats per minute)
Problems with balance
Dizziness
Light-headedness
Shortness of breath
Confusion
Dry mouth
Numbness or tingling in the arms or around the mouth
Muscle spasms in the hand and feet
Sleep disturbance

Symptoms that occur less frequently and you may not realize that these symptoms occur because of shallow breathing –

Bloating, burping, gas
Headache
Blurred vision or tunnel vision
Problems with concentration or memory
General weakness

Well, it’s not always stress and panic attacks that could be causing your shallow and rapid breathing. Medical conditions such as lung infections like pneumonia or bronchiolitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, or heart failure could also make you breathe rapidly.

How is shallow breathing affecting your health?

Shallow rapid breathing is actually an evolutionary adaptation for stress response in which the body activates its ‘fight or flight’ system. This is how it works:

Amygdala (area of the brain that contributes to emotional processing) sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus (area of the brain that functions like a command centre, communicating with the rest of the body through the autonomic nervous system). Get rid of tension with this deep breathing technique.

The autonomic nervous system has two components –

Sympathetic nervous system that functions like a gas pedal in a car and triggers the fight-or-flight response,
Parasympathetic nervous system that acts like a brake and promotes the ‘rest and digest’ response that calms the body down after the danger has passed.

Now, the hypothalamus activates the sympathetic nervous system by sending signals to the adrenal glands. These glands respond by pumping adrenaline into the bloodstream. Following activities occur –

Your heart beats faster and shallower to get more oxygen for fighting or fleeing
Your pulse rate and blood pressure go up
You start to breathe more rapidly
Your sight, hearing, and other senses become sharper
Adrenaline triggers the release of blood sugar (glucose) and fats from temporary storage sites in the body to supplyenergy to all parts of the body.

All these changes happen so quickly you are not even aware of them. When the initial surge of adrenaline subsides the adrenal glands then release cortisol so that the body stays revved up and on high alert.

When the threat passes the parasympathetic nervous system that works as brakes dampens the stress response.

Long term effects of persistent shallow breathing

Now imagine, modern lifestyle pressure keeps you on chronic stress but the fight-or-flight system of the body doesn’t understand this. So, it is always on protection mode!

Result –

Persistent adrenaline surges damage your blood vessels and arteries, increasing blood pressure and raising risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Elevated cortisol levels inadvertently contribute to build up of fat tissue and consequently weight gain.
Shallow breathing disrupts the balance of gases in the body.

Shallow breathing translates into over-breathing, which means you breathe out carbon dioxide too quickly, even before your body has a chance to make more.

This creates an oxygen – carbon dioxide imbalance. Carbon dioxide is an important source of acid in the blood. Rapid loss of carbon dioxide raises the blood pH above normal and you experience the symptoms listed above.

Learning to breathe right

If we pay attention to the way we breathe and learn how to breathe right, we can increase our immunity, be calm and relaxed, and prevent conditions associated with shallow breathing.

Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh explains it beautifully –

“Your breathing should flow gracefully, like a river, like a water snake crossing the water, and not like a chain of rugged mountains or the gallop of a horse. To master our breath is to be in control of our bodies and minds. Each time we find ourselves dispersed and find it difficult to gain control of ourselves by different means, the method of watching the breath should always be used.”

And to master our breath we need to follow a few simple steps:

Try to become aware as to when you are shallow breathing. Bring your attention to the breathing.
Practice slow, deep, diaphragmatic breathing. Inhale slowly and deeply; take about 4-5 seconds to breathe in. Hold your breath for 1-2 seconds. Exhale slowly, deliberately, taking the time you breathed in (4-5 seconds). This type of breathing is called paced breathing and you will be taking about 5 to 7 breaths a minute.
Sit quietly for some time and feel the tension slipping away.

Health benefits of slow, deep breathing

Slow deep breathing helps you calm your nerves; you can feel the stress leaving your body even while you are doing the breathing routine. Research reveals that paced breathing reduces central nervous system activitythat activates the ‘fight or flight’ system and facilitates the relaxation response. [1]

Here are some other studies to show the health benefits of paced breathing.

1. Paced breathing reduces frequency and severity of hot flashes in menopausal women.

To find out if paced breathing helps reduce the frequency and severity of hot flashes, Mayo Clinic researchers conducted a 9-week study where participants practiced paced breathing at 6 breaths/minute for 15 minutes, either once or twice a day, whereas the control group practiced usual breathing at 14 breaths/minute for 10 minutes/day. The findings were – all participants reported hot flash reductions during the 9 weeks: 52% for paced breathing twice a day, 42% for paced breathing once a day, and 46% for usual breathing. [2] Here’s how breathing exercise can help you sleep better.

A more recent study, however, found that although slow-placed respiration showed moderate improvements, this intervention was significantly less effective than a music-listening intervention in decreasing the frequency and severity of hot flush symptoms. [3]

2. Deep diaphragmatic breathing helps improve sleep apnoea and insomnia.

Researchers found that relaxation techniques such as diaphragmatic breathing (paced breathing), mindfulness meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, etc. can be effective in reducing physiological hyperarousal and are especially effective in helping with sleep initiation in people with sleep problems. [4]

3. Slow breathing reduces high blood pressure.

Researchers from Italy experimented on 20 people with high blood pressure and 26 controls and found that slow breathing decreased systolic and diastolic pressures in hypertensive subjects from 149.7±3.7 to 141.1±4 mm Hg, and from 82.7±3 to 77.8±3.7 mm Hg, respectively. In the same way, slow breathing increased baroreflex (one of the body’s mechanisms that helps maintain blood pressure at nearly constant levels) sensitivity in hypertensives from 5.8±0.7 to 10.3±2.0 ms/mm Hg without inducing hyperventilation. [5]

Breathing right is not just about being healthy physically. It positively affects our mind and emotions as well.

‘Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again.’ – Thích Nhất Hạnh.

References

Jerath R, Barnes VA, Dillard-Wright D, Jerath S, Hamilton B. Dynamic Change of Awareness during Meditation Techniques: Neural and Physiological Correlates. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 2012;6:131. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2012.00131.

Sood R, et al. Paced breathing compared with usual breathing for hot flashes. Menopause 2013 Feb;20(2):179-84 doi: 101097/gme0b013e31826934b6. 2013.

Huang AJ, et al. Device-guided slow-paced respiration for menopausal hot flushes: a randomized controlled trial. Obstetrics and Gynecology 2015 May;125(5):1130-8 doi: 101097/AOG0000000000000821. 2015.

Hall MH, Kline CE, Nowakowski S. Insomnia and sleep apnea in midlife women: prevalence and consequences to health and functioning. F1000Prime Reports. 2015;7:63. doi:10.12703/P7-63.
Joseph CN, Porta C, Casucci G, et al. Slow breathing improves arterial baroreflex sensitivity and decreases blood pressure in essential hypertension. Hypertension. 2005;46:714–718.

Image source: Shutterstock

Published: February 29, 2016 2:28 pm | Updated:March 1, 2016 9:48 am

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