High-level and Olympic sports athletes often discuss the effect of breathing pace on performance with great curiosity. Studies indicate that different depths and frequencies of breathing can have direct effects on an athlete’s physiological and psychological well-being.
Follow this simple exercise to reduce stress levels and lower blood pressure: Inhale deeply to fill up your diaphragm with air before constricting your throat to slowly exhale out through your nose. Repeat as necessary.
Controlled Breathing
Controlled breathing is a form of breathwork used to relieve anxiety, pain, sleep problems and stress. Additionally, it may improve mental clarity and increase energy levels while working through both neurobiological and psychological mechanisms to regulate emotions and treat mood disorders such as depression and anxiety. Breathwork may be used before stressful events such as exams or public speaking engagements to calm nerves before stress-inducing events occur, alone or combined with mindfulness meditation or yoga practices.
Studies have revealed that controlled breathing can help lower a person’s blood pressure and ease stress, believed to be due to it triggering the body’s relaxation response and slowing down heart rates, thus decreasing risk for heart attacks or strokes. It has also been demonstrated to provide temporary relief from chronic stress and anxiety and may also help those experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Slow-paced breathing has attracted considerable scientific research. This type of breathing technique has proven its physiological advantages by increasing heart-rate variability (HRV) and parasympathetic activity, both of which improve health outcomes such as well-being, anxiety levels and cortisol (the stress hormone). It has even been linked with improved sexual performance!
Studies have also demonstrated how breathing techniques can influence the brain by modulating activity within a group of neurons known as the pre-Botzinger complex, which controls functions like wakefulness, focus and the locus coeruleus – the locus coeruleus is involved with emotions – to regulate wakefulness, focus and emotional regulation. It is thought these changes occur because slow deep breathing stimulates vagus nerve, which activates parasympathetic nervous system stimulation.
Sigh Breathing
Just as sighing can reduce stress by slowing your heart rate and breathing rate, releasing neurotransmitters such as serotonin can also help reduce feelings of anxiety. Sighing is an easy, convenient method that can be done anywhere anytime – just take a big inhale, hold for one second before exhaling fully and repeat as necessary.
Researchers have recently found that the sigh is distinguished by unique neurobiological, physiological, and psychological characteristics that distinguish it from normal eupneic breathing patterns. Sighs are typically initiated by normal eupneic activity, have large amplitude, and then end with an abrupt respiratory pause known as postsigh apnea; this distinctive respiratory pattern may serve several important purposes including (a) monitoring brain state changes; (b) stimulating arousal; and (c) homeostatically regulating variability of breathing patterns.
At the time of sighing, neural circuits within prebotC are simultaneously activated and inhibited, producing the loud amplitude of sigh. This sequence may help reset overall variability within respiratory networks as well as decrease risks such as tidal volume oscillations which could otherwise lead to hyperventilation.
Sighing heightens one’s awareness of their own tidal volume. Therefore, people tend to sigh more often during panic attacks or stressful situations when breathing becomes rapid due to rapid exhalation, leading to an elevated heart rate and raised blood pressure levels.
Sighing has been shown to help improve mood by encouraging relaxation, increasing positive emotions, and decreasing negative ones. Furthermore, it reduces tidal volume while simultaneously increasing parasympathetic tone and skin conductance – three indicators of relaxation that also lower stress levels.
Employ the sigh breath in your high-performance lifestyle and watch as productivity and anxiety levels decrease, and emotional stability remains intact despite demanding work conditions. Just make sure to do several sighs every day or inhale deeply for one second then exhale, or simply inhale deeply then exhale to get full effect!
Focus Breathing
No matter your goal – from stress reduction and athletic performance enhancement, to relaxation or simply breathing consciously – breathing exercises such as Breath Focus are an invaluable way of doing all three. By engaging the muscles of your diaphragm to inhale and exhale deeply while concentrating on each breath, this technique can increase its benefits while making breathing easier over time. Regular practice of this method will enhance its benefits further while making the experience of breathing much simpler.
Breath focus can provide photographers with an invaluable advantage: It reduces focus breathing, an issue plaguing many lenses that happens when their focus point shifts between infinity and focus point, altering angle of view. Focus breathing can create difficulties when performing focus stacking macro photography; to mitigate this issue use lenses without this issue or take photos at different focal lengths (magnification) until you find one with minimal focus breathing effects.
This breathing exercise is particularly useful for reducing stress and anxiety, as it activates the parasympathetic nervous system to slow heart rate, while at the same time signaling calm to your brain through vagus nerve. Regular practice of this breathing technique may help alleviate occasional feelings of tension as well as prevent panic attacks altogether.
As well as alleviating negative emotions, this breathing exercise also promotes a sense of well-being by activating the prefrontal cortex – the part of the brain that regulates emotional responses – and decreasing activity in the amygdala (an area which triggers fearful responses and anxiety). Due to its relaxing and calming properties, this breathing exercise is an invaluable way of managing chronic stress, anxiety and depression.
Deep Breathing
Deep breathing offers multiple advantages, from relieving anxiety and promoting relaxation to increasing concentration and improving posture. Deep breathing can also assist injury recovery by flushing away waste products like lactic acid from muscles while improving overall performance, stimulating endorphin release (natural chemicals that make you feel happy and euphoric) while relaxing your body and mind. No complex breathing techniques need to be learned either: simply slowing down your breaths using diaphragmatic breathing techniques will boost mood while improving performance.
One reason this type of breathing can be so effective is because it activates your parasympathetic nervous system – often known as the “rest and digest” response – while simultaneously soothing your sympathetic nervous system (which regulates fight-or-flight responses). Deep breathing exercises like the 4-7-8 breathing technique provide a great starting point for this form of relaxation breathing; you can practice this form any time, anywhere – even while standing in line at the store or while stuck in traffic!
Deep breathing can increase oxygen levels, helping you think more clearly and enhance physical performance. Furthermore, deep breathing may reduce anxiety and depression by soothing the nervous system; and may even aid those living with asthma or other lung conditions in breathing more comfortably.
Deep breathing can improve lung function and capacity by pushing air more thoroughly through your lungs than with traditional thoracic breathing methods. Athletes will find deep inhalations especially helpful as it enhances energy and endurance levels.
Breathing exercises may be difficult to incorporate into your everyday routine, but their benefits are well worth the effort. Begin by setting aside just a few minutes a day for breathing exercises; eventually you may incorporate them throughout your day’s activities. Explore different breathing practices until you find one that resonates with you or simply stick with an established, regular pace of breathing that you are familiar with.