A long time ago, perhaps as a teen, I’d made a decision along these lines:

“I hate getting criticized, so the best way to avoid it is to be super-critical of myself and even voice those self-criticisms aloud. That way, I will make myself perfect and there will be nothing for anyone to criticize. Or at least, people will feel sorry for me since they see how hard I am on myself.” This went along with my belief that nothing I did was ever quite good enough and that I, Cathy, was “not good enough.”

Wearing my homemade “deer ears” – better hearing

And yet, harsh as I was on myself, there were always people in my life ready to judge and criticize me. Also, the more I judged myself, the more I found myself filled with judgments of others.

As part of an online Peer Support Circle I had recently organized (inspired by Lynne McTaggart’s Power of Eight), I had set myself a goal to hear better by clearing up the congestion in my Eustachian tubes. A question that anyone with hearing loss might ask themselves, is: “What don’t you want to hear?” My answer, of course, was “Criticism! Judgments!”

Like me, you’ve probably heard that if one judges oneself, it’s a double-edged sword; it’s usually accompanied by judging others. Even so, I didn’t see that I had any choice except to judge myself.

About a year ago, I had a Colombian housemate who not only criticized my housekeeping, but became downright abusive, yelling at me. No matter how much I tried to improve or to placate her in order to escape her criticism, it only became more and more intense. Finally I realized that I did not need to tolerate this abuse, and asked her to leave. A short time before that, I lived for two months with a German woman who not only criticized me vehemently for things like closing the refrigerator door too carelessly, but also mocked me daily with cutting sarcasm. (She was a very wounded person.) 

And this time around, living in a house with nine other people, there is one woman who has been consistently quite critical of me, even for things which I had not done. About a month ago I did The Work of Byron Katie to examine my thoughts about this. In the “turnaround,” Katie suggests changing the pronouns, for instance: “She shouldn’t criticize me” can turn into “I shouldn’t criticize myself” or “I shouldn’t criticize her.” Examining these statements, I could see that they are equally true…the essence of projection.

The next day I was talking on the phone with my best friend, who told me she’d had a breakthrough. She had always believed that her mother had abandoned her when she was very young by placing her in an orphanage for awhile. However, she knew that her mother was unable to cope and facing such financial strain that she might have to live in her car. Her new perspective was, “I wasn’t abandoned–my mother was trying to ensure that I would be safe and cared for.”

This shift in perspective had allowed a huge change in her perception of her mother and her childhood. I was so inspired by her, that I had a shift in perception myself!

A phrase came to me: “As I believe, I will receive.” (If I believe I am not good enough, I will receive others’ criticism. If I accept myself, others will accept me.) 

I thought, “Well, what if my self-judgments are attracting the judgments of all these other people? What if, instead of resigning myself to forever believing I’m not good enough and having other people judge and criticize me, I shifted to accepting myself? Maybe that would result in not attracting all that judgment–and make it easier for me to stop judging others, too.” The choice was suddenly quite clear: Accept myself, or keep suffering the pain of criticism from others. Not only that–if I am “not good enough,” that means I don’t deserve to have any of the good things in life, such as making a comfortable income from meaningful work, and having a loving partner. 

My practice is now, that every time I start to judge myself mentally, I interrupt the thought with “Even though I made a mistake/messed up, I deeply and completely love and accept myself exactly as I am.” At the same time, I take a slow, deep breath, then exhale while releasing the self-judgment. I imagine filling the space all around me with a warm, protective layer of self-acceptance. 

It also occurred to me that, instead of pushing myself and taking my body for granted, I would extend some gratitude to each part of my body for serving me so faithfully and functioning so well over all these 79 years.

After such a long time, it may take a little while to rewrite the old program. But I am HOPEFUL! And as for the housemate, I have not heard one critical word from her in the past month, which is a small miracle. Instead, she has been giving me small compliments. It’s much less painful to accept myself, than to suffer judgments and conflicts!

I share this, in the hopes that perhaps you too will discover a new perspective on some harmful belief you may be holding. I’d love it if you’d write to me and share your own stories! cathy@breathing4health.net.

The Power of Small Groups

The importance of small support groups has been demonstrated by such pioneers as Dean Ornish, MD in his work with recovering heart attack patients (bypassing the need for bypass surgery), and Lynne McTaggart with her “Power of Eight” groups. Barbara Sher’s “Success Teams” have helped many people succeed in their life goals, as the group shares ideas, resources, emotional support, and intentions. My holistic health teacher and mentor, Dr. Erik Peper, taught large health classes at San Francisco State College; each class had time for students to break into small groups to share their experiences with deep relaxation, imagery, self-regulation, and behavior change. The healings in those classes over the course of a semester were remarkable: recovery from chronic pain, migraines, skin problems, digestive issues, mood swings, addictive eating, and more.

In her book The Power of Eight, McTaggart details the many ways she studied and worked with the power of shared intention – from influencing the growth of seeds, to the pH of water, to violence levels, to multiple health concerns.

Influencing Water

Masaru Emoto, who documented the power of intention to change the structure of water crystals, wrote that “to heal water is to heal the world.” Water has 72 physical, material and thermodynamic anomalies. (Did you know that hot water freezes faster than cold water?) Water can be structured via heat, light, sound, and thought. Water’s structure is changed by prayer. Water, of course, is used in rituals such as baptism, blessings, and anointing. Lake Biwa was polluted and stagnant; following prayer by a group, the pH of its water dropped in acidity by one full point, and when a sample was frozen it formed beautiful crystals.

The Healing Power of Altruism

McTaggart discovered that people who share a common focus and intention, involving other people, even for just ten minutes, experienced benefits…as much for the senders as for the receivers.  In fact, praying for others turned out to be more effective than being prayed for! These groups demonstrated the healing effects of altruism. People who focused on peace, for example in Sri Lanka, reported greater peace in their own lives and relationships; more open-heartedness, love for the world and even strangers. They felt pulled out of petty concerns, less judgmental and triggered, more forgiving, calm, and grateful. They stated that they experienced clarity, surrender to not being in control, deeper meaning and purpose in life.

Elderly people who do volunteer work have 2/3 lower mortality than those who don’t, and are 42% more likely to report being happy: “helper’s high.” McTaggart writes, “Focusing on the good of others and being of service takes the focus off ourselves in a way that allows movement.”

Just as disconnection and alienation lead to illness, a strong sense of connectedness and social bonding promotes health.

The vagus nerve, sometimes called “the love nerve,” connects with all the communication systems involved with caretaking; it slows the heart rate and promotes the parasympathetic relaxation response; it increases oxytocin levels, associated with love, trust, compassion, and intimacy. Oxytocin reduces inflammation and blood pressure, heals wounds, helps digestion, and boosts immunity. Collective spiritual practices, including prayer and intention for others’ wellbeing, are associated with increased immunity and longevity.

Unity Consciousness

McTaggart writes that the power of a group lies in its unity, “with one mind and one passion,” of one accord, focused and concentrated.  In history, from Stonehenge to Muslims in Mecca, to the 12 apostles, the theme of prayer groups “praying as one, in passionate unity,” “focused and concentrated on a unified purpose,” has been documented. She discovered that the size of the group was not important, and the distance from the subject of the healing intention did not matter. Participants frequently reported a sense of life’s perfection, a bond with all that is, a transcendent insight into a greater reality. There was a “palpable, strong sense of beautiful pure giving energy coming from the entire group.” Some reported that they felt mystical ecstasy.

What is the “mystical signature”? A sudden, intense shift in consciousness; dissolving of the separate self, a sense of limitless spaciousness. In studies of Buddhist monks and Franciscan nuns, these feelings were accompanied by a decrease in frontal lobe and parietal lobes’ activity (the centers that distinguish self from non-self).

Important elements: music, intense concentration, visualization, heart-centering, holding a specific focus or request. Most ecstatic practices involve ritual, which may include costumes, pageantry, music, ceremony, symbols, movement, touch. Shamanic drumming helps to synchronize the left and right hemispheres of the brain, improving integration of the cortex and limbic functions. Rituals create a strong expectation of change.

A global peace intention experiment McTaggart led in 2011 led to a 22-30% drop in casualties in the affected areas. In the aftermath, more connections between Americans and Afghans or Arabs were reported, along with greater compassion, forgiveness, and letting go of past hurts. One-fifth of the “senders” reported health benefits, and one veteran’s PTSD was healed completely.

How to create a Power of 8 (or 6, 10, 12…) group

Before the first meeting, ask each person to write down their major intentions/goals for the month/year. What are the implications of the fact that we are sending and receiving at every moment?

Create trust and comfort within the group by exchanging personal information. In pairs, participants practice sending and receiving a mental image of a simple object that has significance (a strong + or – charge) for them. They write down in detail what was sent and what was received by the partner.

“Powering Up” –  this works best if all believe in the process, have the ability to focus and quiet the mind, emotionally connect with the person who will receive, visualize the desired outcome, mentally rehearse, and then let go. Use the same space each time. Concentrate on the present, and focus on all five senses (not the mind). Sit comfortably and relax any tense muscles. Take slow deep diaphragmatic breaths, six breaths per minute (5 seconds breathing in through the nose, 5 seconds breathing out through the mouth) but not so slow that it feels like a strain. Continue for 5 minutes; gradually work up to 10 minutes.  Focus first on the breath, and then all five senses.

Bring awareness to the heart, imagine sending light to your own heart and letting it spread throughout your body. “May I be well, happy, and peaceful.” On the out-breath, imagine white light radiates out from your heart. Focus first on those you love, even a pet, and then your good friends. Move to acquaintances/neutral folks, and then to those you dislike. “May they be well and free from suffering.”

Tell the Universe exactly what you want, with detail and specifics. State your intention: who, what, when, where, why, how. Draw a picture or make a collage. Make a public commitment, a vow aloud to the group, that you will do whatever you can to make this intention reality. Consider what isn’t working and what is needed.

Mentally rehearse: visualize the desired outcome (such as house, job, peaceful relationship, healthy body, enjoying life) with all five senses. Believe in the process, keep focusing on the desired outcome, not failure or lack. Visualize, in detail, your intention as established fact.

In group meditative state, relax the sense of self, merge with the target of the group’s intention. State the intention clearly at the beginning, then let go of the outcome.

“Healing in a group is a natural part of your birthright, a capacity you were born with and that was there all along for you to make use of,” writes McTaggart.

Highlights (with thanks to Eyal Shifroni)

This book taught me much that I did not know about breathing, despite my years as a respiratory therapist and biofeedback therapist. The author’s dedication to understanding and trying out every possible therapy (even when difficult) to help himself and share with others, is remarkable! And his descriptions are vivid. He even traveled to a little known spot in underground Paris to study ancient skulls!

There’s a lot in this summary, so it’s in two parts. I’ve added a bit of commentary here and there. I was fascinated to learn that indigenous people’s teeth and airways were in such better shape than ours! And we have much to learn from ancient yogic pranayama methods.
Nose vs. Mouth Breathing

The author, who suffered various health problems, and a fellow “pulmonaut” named Olson experimented on themselves to compare mouth breathing with breathing through the nose. For 10 days, they exclusively breathed through the mouth (with blocked nostrils). During this highly uncomfortable period, a researcher from Stanford measured various physiological parameters, such as blood gas tests, inflammation markers, hormone levels, and heart-lung function. The same protocol was used for the next ten days, during which the two men breathed exclusively through the nose, mouths taped shut at night.

During mouth breathing, the author’s snoring increased by 4,820%, and he experienced an average of 25 episodes of obstructive sleep apnea. He also had to urinate more frequently through the night, since fragmented sleep makes kidneys produce more fluid. Snoring and sleep apnea can cause attention disorders, concentration problems, diabetes, high blood pressure, and cancer, according to the author.

By contrast, nasal breathing improved all the tested parameters, along with a great increase in overall well-being. During the ten days of nose breathing, the author’s systolic blood pressure dropped from 142 to 124, and heart rate variability (a positive marker of health) increased by over 150%.

Nose

The nose cleans, warms, and moistens the air for easier absorption. It triggers hormones and various chemicals that reduce blood pressure and aid digestion. Nose breathing responds to the cycles of the autonomic nervous system, influences heart rate, improves mood, and opens blood vessels. (See previous blog for a full list of benefits.)

George Catlin, in the early 19th century, studied Native American children. He was impressed by their robust health, perfect teeth, and forward facial structure, which he attributed to nose breathing learned in infancy. Mothers would carefully close the baby’s lips after each feeding, explaining that mouth breathing weakens the body, distorts the face, and creates tension and diseases. The indigenous diet may have also played a role.

Breathing and the Autonomic Nervous System

Breathing influences almost every internal organ. It’s like a switch that controls the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system includes the parasympathetic – “rest and digest” and sympathetic – “fight, flight, or freeze.” Many nerves connected to the parasympathetic system are located in the lower parts of the lungs, which is why slow diaphragmatic breaths are so relaxing. Many nerves of the sympathetic system are in the upper part of the lungs. When breathing short, fast breaths, this system is activated, putting the body in emergency mode to deal with danger.

The right and left nostrils regulate temperature and blood pressure, and brain chemicals that affect mood, emotions, and sleep. Inhaling through the right nostril stimulates the sympathetic nervous system; it accelerates circulation, warms the body, increases cortisol, and raises blood glucose. Inhaling through the left nostril has the opposite effect, facilitating relaxation, since it’s linked to the parasympathetic nervous system. Breathing through the left nostril diverts blood flow to the right frontal lobe, promoting creative thinking and imagery. The body functions most efficiently when both systems are in balance, transitioning smoothly between action and rest. The ancient pranayama practice of alternate nostril breathing helps create this balance.

Sinuses

The turbinates begin at the opening of your nostrils and end just below your eyes. Rich in blood vessels, lymph nodes, and secretion glands, they help in warming, humidifying, filtering, and nourishing the unique tissue of the nasal passages. By regulating the airflow through narrow passages, the conchae ensure that inhaled air comes into maximum contact with this tissue. The nasal turbinates collect debris inhaled through the nose, and transport it to the back of the throat via microscopic cilia (hair-like structures).

The pituitary sinus releases nitric oxide (a vasodilator), increasing blood circulation. Nitric oxide also improves immune function, weight regulation, mood, and sexual function. Nose breathing can enhance the supply of this gas sixfold, allowing the body to absorb 18% more oxygen compared to mouth breathing.

Capacity

A study of 5200 subjects over 20 years found that the strongest indicator of lifespan is not genetics, diet, or daily activity level, but lung capacity.

Between the ages of 30 and 50, the lungs naturally lose 12% of their capacity, and by the age of 80, 30% is lost. However, lung capacity can be preserved and even increased through stretches and breathing exercises. Free divers are known to increase their lung capacity significantly.

Katharina Schroth, in the early 1900s, had scoliosis, a sideways curvature of the spine which cramps the lungs. Katharina cured herself through breath exercises and movement, and went on to heal hundreds of other women suffering from scoliosis.

(continued in Part Two)

Heart coherence is a state in which, through slow rhythmic breathing and focusing on positive emotions such as love and gratitude, our heart rhythms change to a smooth, orderly sine-wave pattern. The heart’s rhythms generate a powerful electromagnetic signal which influences all the other systems in the body, including the brain, nervous system, digestive system, and immune system. It feels wonderful!

One metaphor often used to describe this entrainment is that of the old-time clock-maker’s shop: the grandfather clock with its big pendulum would entrain all the smaller clocks in the shop into its rhythm. The heart’s electromagnetic signal is 6,000 times more powerful than that of the brain! And this energetic field can influence the fields of others around us, whether human or animal.

HeartMath

I love this experiment, which says a lot about our subtle energetic connections:

Dr. Rollin McCraty, chief researcher at the Institute of HeartMath, monitored the heart rhythms of his son, Josh (age 15), and his dog, Mabel, using electrocardiogram devices. Mabel was placed in a room, then Josh entered and consciously directed feelings of love and care towards her without touching her.

Heart Coherence: When Josh focused on positive emotions, his heart rhythms became more coherent. Mabel’s heart rhythms also showed increased coherence shortly after Josh’s emotional shift, suggesting a form of emotional entrainment.

But when Josh left the room, Mabel’s heart rhythms became chaotic and incoherent, indicating signs of separation anxiety.

Energetic Communication: Dr. McCraty believes that this interaction reflects the energetic communication between beings. The heart’s electromagnetic field can influence others nearby, which may explain why emotionally connected individuals—whether human or animal—can affect each other’s states of being.

Heart Insights

“Every life has a problem. Every heart has an answer.” – Institute of HeartMath

Dr. Rita Marie Johnson, founder of “The Connection Practice,” had learned about heart coherence and began teaching it to teachers and students in the schools of Costa Rica.  Here’s a wonderful story of the power of heart coherence to generate insights.

A little boy named Gabriel was always grumpy in the morning when his mother woke him up, and continued to be ill-tempered and aggressive throughout the school day. His teacher asked him to make a drawing of how he was feeling, and he drew a picture of himself beating up another kid. Then she asked him to recall an experience when he was happy and relaxed, and he drew a picture of himself at the beach playing while the sun shone and dolphins were swimming nearby.

The teacher guided him to focus on those positive emotions while pretending to breathe in and out through his heart, with his eyes closed. Then she suggested he ask his heart why he was so irritable at school. A minute later, his eyes flew open and he exclaimed, “My heart said I need more sleep!” Then the truth came out: Gabriel loved to read, and while his mother thought he was asleep, he was reading under the covers with a flashlight until late! He never wanted to get up in the morning.

After this realization, he agreed to stop the late-night reading, got more sleep, and his mood improved dramatically. He started getting along with the other children, and the fighting stopped.

This story shows the power of heart coherence to entrain the brain, and thus generate insights that can greatly improve our lives.

Heart insights shine a light

When I took Rita Marie’s class, I had a profound insight about a conflict I’d had with one of my brothers. I had been judgmental toward him because he and his wife had a big house that used a lot of electricity, a John Deere power-mower to care for his large property; he frequently drove long distances, and seemed quite unconcerned about the effect of his lifestyle on the planet’s health. He got angry at my criticisms and didn’t speak to me for over a year.

Rita Marie guided us through exploring our own feelings and needs and those of the other person involved in a conflict, and then entering coherence through heart-focused breathing and invoking a positive emotion (I remembered my cat cuddling up). The insight that came was that my brother loved the natural world as much as I did, although he showed it in a different way. His way was adopting injured and stray animals and helping them back to health. Immediately I felt much more warmly towards him. I reached out by phone and our relationship was much improved.

I went on to become certified to teach the Connection Practice.

A woman in one of my classes wanted to find out whether heart coherence could give her an insight into a troublesome recurring nightmare. In her dream, she was always chagrined to discover that somehow, she had never received the all-important “owner’s manual” for how to live. Her insight was rather simple: There IS no owner’s manual! We all just have to figure it out, and keep asking for guidance as needed. She reported that the recurring nightmare never returned!

Did you know that sometimes anxiety is a result of how you breathe? That we don’t just breathe fast because we’re anxious, but also vice versa?

Most of the time we’re not very conscious of our breathing, and for good reason–it’s automatic, so that we won’t die because we forgot to breathe! However, conscious breathing gives us a lot more choices as to how we feel in any given moment.

Our autonomic nervous system has two branches, the sympathetic and the parasympathetic. The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is responsible for keeping us alert to danger and ready to respond rapidly with intense muscle activity, such as running away or fighting off an enemy. Hence, it’s known as the “fight or flight” response, and others have added “freeze” and “fawn” to that list. The amygdala, part of the brainstem, assesses threat; when threat is perceived, it triggers the SNS. The threat response is designed to keep us safe, and it’s meant for a short-term mobilization of all our resources. The adrenal glands secrete cortisol and adrenalin, causing the heart to beat faster, blood pressure to rise, and muscles to tense; blood glucose levels go up to provide more energy to the muscles. Digestion is low priority; that can be done after the threat has passed.

Unfortunately, the stressors that our bodies were designed to handle, thousands of years ago, are unlike our modern stressors. Instead of running away at top speed from an abusive boss, we may cringe, tense, and internally fume with anger. Instead of slugging a critical teacher or acquaintance, we bottle up our feelings or even blame ourselves. Our bodies are stuck with no way to discharge all those stress hormones. Muscle tension, elevated blood sugar levels, and high blood pressure can become chronic problems when there are multiple long-term, unresolved stressors in our lives. Vigorous physical activity can help discharge some of this built-up tension.

The other branch is the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). This is the “rest and digest” branch, and is responsible for repairing damaged tissues, enhancing immune system function, and thoroughly digesting our food. It helps us sleep well and awaken renewed, and keeps our bodies healthy.

Clearly, an imbalance– too much stressful activation of the sympathetic nervous system–can lead to illness.

Balance

In a balanced system, on our in-breath the sympathetic branch is slightly stimulated, while on the out-breath we slightly stimulate the parasympathetic. This explains why one of the quickest ways to relax tension is to lengthen the out-breath! A slow exhalation signals the brain that it is safe to relax, soothes the vagus nerve, and stimulates the parasympathetic system. It isn’t hard to do. You can inhale for 4 seconds and exhale for 6-8 seconds, with a tiny bit of practice. If it feels awkward, try this: purse your lips while exhaling, so that your air is held back a little.

Panic Attacks

If you’ve ever suffered from a panic attack, most likely you were breathing rapidly, trying to get more oxygen, and having disastrous thoughts: “What if I pass out, or have a heart attack and die?” It’s terrifying and devastating!

What’s actually happening in the body is called hyperventilation or over-breathing. When we breathe rapidly, often through the mouth, our CO2 levels drop. The blood pH becomes alkaline, as carbonic acid levels in the blood go down. And then a weird thing happens. The hemoglobin in the blood, which is the carrier of oxygen to the brain, muscles, and so on, can’t release the oxygen when the pH is too alkaline. There’s plenty of oxygen, but it can’t be offloaded to the tissues that need it. Our brains are screaming, “I need oxygen!” This stimulates us to breathe even harder, which only makes things worse. Without enough oxygen, the brain foretells doom. It’s counter-intuitive to breathe more slowly in such a situation, because we feel so unsafe and hungry for air. A panic attack sufferer may be told to breathe in and out of a paper bag. This helps because it causes the exhaled CO2 to be re-inhaled, thus balancing the pH.

Most people can prevent (or quickly stop) a panic attack by practicing the slower exhalation for a few minutes, calming the nervous system and lowering the blood’s pH to normal levels.

The most beneficial way to breathe

Always breathe through your nose. That tends to slow the breath, filtering, humidifying and warming the air that reaches the delicate lung tissues and protecting them. Did you know that the alveoli, or air sacks where oxygen diffuses into the blood, are just one cell thick?

Inhaling through the nose gives the added benefit of inhaling our bodies’ natural nitric oxide (NO). This helps promote:

• Vasodilation: Nitric oxide promotes the relaxation and widening of blood vessels, which enhances blood flow and lowers blood pressure. This helps in preventing hypertension and coronary artery disease. It helps protect the endothelium (the inner lining of blood vessels).
• Endurance: By increasing blood flow, nitric oxide helps deliver more oxygen and nutrients to muscles during exercise, improving endurance and reducing fatigue. It aids in muscle repair by facilitating the removal of metabolic waste products from muscles post-exercise.
• Brain Health: Nitric oxide improves cerebral blood flow, which can enhance cognitive functions and potentially reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia.
• Immune Response: Nitric oxide helps combat pathogens and facilitates communication among immune cells, enhancing the body’s ability to respond to infections. It helps regulate inflammation.
• Tissue Repair: Nitric oxide contributes to various wound healing processes, including inflammation regulation, collagen formation, and antimicrobial action.

A 10 to 11 second breath is ideal, and once you’re calm, you can breathe equal time in and out, such as 5 seconds in, 5 seconds out. That’s right, just 6 breaths a minute! Most people breathing unconsciously are taking at least 12 breaths a minute, even at rest. How about you? When we are sitting quietly, we can easily learn to breathe as little as 4 slow breaths per minute. You may notice that you can even pause at the end of an exhalation before you begin to feel the need for the next breath. Be playful and explore!

Breath: Highlights, part 2

Slow

The amount of carbon dioxide in our body is usually too low. Olson (the partner in nose vs. mouth breathing research) claimed: “Regardless of the breathing rate, the body will always have enough oxygen; what the body needs to function properly is not faster or deeper breaths, but sufficient carbon dioxide.”

Henderson, a researcher at Yale, found that “carbon dioxide is the main hormone in the entire body; it is the only one produced in every tissue in the body and is likely to act on every organ…carbon dioxide is a more fundamental component of living matter than oxygen.”

When we breathe at a normal rate, our lungs only absorb a quarter of the available oxygen in the air. When we take longer, slower breaths, we receive more oxygen in fewer breaths.

A 2001 study on people practicing mantras found that their average number of breaths was 5.5 breaths per minute. When they breathed in this slow pattern, blood flow to the brain increased, and the functions of the heart, blood circulation, and the nervous system were synchronized for maximum efficiency. Another study concluded that the most efficient breathing rate was inhales of 5.5 seconds and exhales of the same length.

Hold It

The need to breathe is activated based on the level of CO2 detected by chemoreceptors. Chemoreceptors can be trained to increase their range. Breath-holding practice raises the levels of carbon dioxide, increasing the range of chemoreceptors.

People suffering from anorexia, anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive disorder have consistently low levels of carbon dioxide. Extra-slow exhalation raises carbon dioxide levels, and can thus prevent or stop anxiety attacks.

Less

Yogis train themselves to reduce the amount of air they consume at rest. Chinese physicians from two thousand years ago advised limiting breathing to about 10 breaths per minute.

Adult lungs can typically hold an average of 4-6 liters of air. Even breathing at a rate of 5 breaths per minute, we may easily inhale twice the amount of air needed. The key to optimal breathing, and the health benefits, endurance, and longevity it brings, is to inhale and exhale a smaller number of times with a smaller volume of air.

A Ukrainian, Konstantin Buteyko, found that patients suffering from asthma, high blood pressure, and other diseases consistently breathed too much; he developed the Buteyko method.

In a 2014 study by Dr. Morte, the respiratory functions of 120 asthma patients were measured. For four weeks, they maintained the levels of carbon dioxide in their bodies at a healthy rate of 5.5%. When the CO2 level dropped, they breathed less until it rose again. After a month of this practice, asthma symptoms disappeared or significantly decreased.

Researcher Packman stated that when we breathe too much, we expel more carbon dioxide, causing the blood pH level to become too alkaline. Breathing slower and holding more carbon dioxide internally lowers the pH, making the blood more acidic. Most cell functions in the body occur at a pH of 7.4, the optimal point between alkalinity and acidity.

Chew

People with sleep apnea frequently are given CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure). This device (invented by a respiratory therapist I knew at Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital) delivers bursts of air through obstructed airways to the lungs to keep them open.

A researcher named Price compared the dental health, airways, and overall health of populations worldwide. He found that when the traditional diet of hunter-gatherers, including roots and wild meat, was replaced by a processed modern diet, there was more than a tenfold increase in dental problems, crooked teeth, and obstructed airways, with generally poorer health.

The modern diet lacks the pressure generated by chewing. Our ancestors used to chew for hours every day. More bone density of the jaw helps prevent sleep apnea. There are stem cells that can become any cells according to the body’s needs. The more one chews, the more stem cells are released, thus producing more bone for the jaw. The author successfully increased his jaw bone mass, thus helping his sleep apnea.

More on Occasion

The Tibetan breathing technique called Tummo (Inner Fire) was developed by a monk to survive the freezing cold of the Himalayas. Researchers who traveled to the Himalayas saw monks wearing scant clothing, warming themselves in freezing stone monasteries or outdoors. In the 2000s, Wim Hof used this technique to achieve amazing feats. He stayed in an ice-filled bath for almost two hours and has broken 26 world records.

Holotropic Breathwork was developed by psychiatrist Stanislav Grof. A period of deep, rapid breathing may reduce blood flow to the brain by 40%, inducing an altered state of consciousness. Grof successfully treated patients with anxiety, depression, and even schizophrenia.

Note: Grof developed this drug-free method after his successful treatments of mental patients with LSD in the 1960s and 1970s were forced to stop.

My own experience with Holotropic Breathwork in California around 1990, led by a graduate of Grof’s program, was rather profound. In a day-long workshop, each person was assigned a partner and we took turns being each other’s “sitter,” just being attentive to the partner lying down and doing the breathwork in case a need should arise. The room was filled with evocative music that moved from powerful rhythmic drumming to intense – discordant to uplifting and ethereal. Some people wept, moaned or writhed as strong emotions emerged. I felt some uncomfortable cramping in my legs caused by the hyperventilation, but beautiful insights also came to me. At the end of our sessions, we were given paper and pastels and invited to draw mandalas.

Scott Schwenk: wake up, grow up, clean up, show up. How I breathe = how I live. Am I in the present moment, embodied? Soften the body through the breath. Receive the breath, be breathed by life. Breathe love to self, others.

Lisa McNett: OneBreathInstitute.com. Breath tunes us into our needs: what wants to move or open? Breathe into tight spaces. Pause, breathe, ask, listen.

Stephen Porges: breathwork & polyvagal theory. When we’re triggered, do self-care. Our physiological state determines how we react to the world. When we’re bombarded with threat cues, we shut down. Calmness improves relationships. Cues of safety include: calmness of the other person, music, melodic voices. When we move and breathe, can process more feelings. We all need to feel safe with others. Synchronous breathing bonds people. Remove cues of threat and replace with cues of safety. Humming, singing stimulate the vagus nerve.

Dan Siegel: Intraconnection, expand me to we. “The splinter in the soul of humanity is the idea of separate self.” The self isn’t just in the body. The mind is larger than the brain. Indigenous language favors verbs more than nouns, while English has more nouns than verbs. Nouns give the “flimsy fantasy of certainty.” Seeing identity as an entity (noun), a solo self. In the quantum realm of universal reality, there are no nouns, no time; timelessness. See the self as a verb, a process. Awareness arises from the formless. Awareness of breath and regulating it help integration, both automatic and conscious. Breath awareness improves coherence and receptivity vs. reactivity. These lead to improved social engagement, interpersonal bonding, feeling of safety & wholeness. In mysticism, life-love-breath-energy are all the same. Conscious breath is embodied intraconnection.

Rollin McCraty, HeartMath: less than 10% of military budget could house and feed everyone on earth. In coherence, all parts of a complex system work harmoniously, efficiently, the whole is greater than the sum of parts. Electro-magnetic fields broadcast our emotions, and we detect others’. Our fields influence one another. Heart Rate Variability reflects our nervous system. High stress lowers our ability to sync with others and with the earth. 5 seconds inhale/5 seconds exhale is the rhythm of the heart-lung system. Ability to think clearly depends on our physiology. “The heart has a mind of its own.” Information sent from heart to brain affects perception and brain function. Cortex works better with coherence. The thalamus syncs the electrical activity of whole brain. “Pause, breathe, shift & lift.” Radiate heart qualities to self and others. Pause in the moment of stress or anger, also practice 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes before bed to help coherence become automatic.

R. Jahnke, OMD: Science of Breath. Chinese medicine and Ayurveda focus on internal disease-prevention. Massage heart and belly and breathe. 4-part breath: belly, chest, hold, exhale slowly. Activates decision making, strengthens brain plasticity. Or 5-part (hold breath after exhale, letting CO2 levels rise). Increased CO2 builds resiliency and raises nitric oxide, helps dilate alveoli and arteries.