The breath is a very powerful tool.
And if we can understand what the breath controls or is connected to,
Then we can understand how we can consciously breathe so that we can create a sensation or feeling within our body.
Because the breath is very much connected to who we are.
It is part of the body.
It is the subconscious mind.
And the breath is connected to two nervous systems.
We have the sympathetic nervous system,
Which you may know it as the fight or flight nervous system.
And this part of the nervous system is responsible for us to decide if we need to fight or flight.
It is the on guard nervous system.
It is the nervous system responsible for our vigilance to be hyper alert.
And it takes in all the energy resources so that we can either choose to fight or flight.
And this nervous system does this by relaxing the airways to bring in oxygen,
Which is a source of energy,
By increasing our heartbeat so that that blood is circulating more through our system,
Bringing energy to all the organs and areas needed by inhibiting any absorption of food from the stomach.
So that energy can be redirected to the liver so that we can break down any of the stored glucose or sugars which are in the liver to be released into our blood circulation.
Also inhibiting the intestines so that we can redirect that energy of absorption of food to other areas of the body like the muscles or the heart.
And in the other nervous system parasympathetic,
It's all about rest and relaxation.
It's about digestion and storage to collect all of the nutrients maybe within our body and activate the stomach.
It allows us to digest any foods,
To take in any nutrition from our intestines.
It allows us to be able to also release and let go so that we can use the bathroom.
So this whole parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for us just letting go,
Relaxing.
And so this nervous system also constricts the airways.
So one of the things I want to point out now is that these nervous systems are very much connected within our lungs,
The nerves through our lungs.
And so with breathing we have full control to choose our breath.
How fast or slow,
How deep,
How shallow,
We have a lot of control in the breath.
And so the way that we can control our nervous system now is by recognizing which part of the breath stimulates which part of the nervous system.
So with much gratitude to modern science now understanding that the inhale breath,
Allowing our lungs to fill up,
Is stimulating the sympathetic nervous system.
While the exhale breath constricting the airways is stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system.
So if we want to be more rested,
More relaxed,
Then we would want to extend the exhale so that the parasympathetic is stimulated even longer.
And if you ever wondered about this and why it was important to extend the exhale,
You may recall a time that you've seen maybe a movie or a show where someone was having one of those panics or anxiety attacks and the person was probably breathing very shallow.
And so someone may have ran up to them and been like,
Follow my breath.
And they will say to them,
Breathe in deeply and breathe out deeply.
And they had them breathe much more slowly and deeply because they were stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system to relax them.
So let's go ahead and practice this now that we understand how the breath all works in regards to our nervous system.
So let's practice this relaxing breath a bit more deeply.
We're going to go ahead and inhale.
But when we inhale,
We're going to take two counts and then we will exhale,
But doubling the count to four.
So inhale two counts,
Exhale four counts.
And if this is new for you,
You may need to keep the count small as you continue to learn how to do this even better by increasing the counts from instead two to four to four to eight.
So let's go ahead and start with the two to four count by taking a big breath in,
One,
Two and exhaling,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Very good.
And let's practice that again,
Two counts in,
Inhale,
One,
Two and exhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Good.
And again,
Inhale,
One,
Two and exhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Now let's stretch that out a little bit more.
And I want you to become very connected with the breath.
And when you take an inhale in,
Make sure that breath is just going very deeply into your chest and going and following into your belly,
Allowing the space of air to fill between your belly and your chest.
And then when you exhale,
Be sure to feel all your muscles just simply relaxing into the breath as if they are falling down into the breath,
Feeling all of your muscles also beginning to contract as you push that air out from your belly and your chest.
And we're going to extend the count now from four to eight.
Go ahead and now take a big breath in,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four and exhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
And if you're wondering if you're to do this through your mouth or through your nose,
It really doesn't matter which one.
However,
Typically we go in through the nose and out through the mouth and even creating a narrowing of the mouth as we allow the breath to very slowly pace and exhale.
So we can be aware of that now as we practice it again.
So we're going to go ahead and do a four to eight count.
Ready?
Take a big breath in,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Feeling it filled in your lungs,
Belly,
And then exhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Very good.
I hope you enjoyed this exercise with breathing.
Now that you understand exactly how the breath works and why it's so important,
You can now use this tool moving forward because the breath is always with you.
So you can use the breath to help relax you anywhere,
Anytime.
Just bring your attention to your breath and in the future,
Choose the count that works best for you,
Knowing to extend the exhale so that you can stimulate that parasympathetic or relaxing nervous system.
And I thank you for your time and for listening.
Have a wonderful day.
