Breathing = Stress ?

Written By nomi kreiser

We are born with the knowledge to take deep breaths and fully engage our diaphragm, but most of us unlearn how to breathe correctly growing up. A lot of this has to do with stress. Let's be honest. It is rare we are not stressing ourselves. May it be emotional stress over work, relationships, and family or the physical stress on our bodies, too much or little exercise, wrong diet, etc..

Stress is a stable part of our working society. And in a way it is important, we need it to push ourselves a little further. But if it starts to affect our health we need to reevaluate the level of stress in our daily lives. We see it more and more in young people; anxiety, nervousness, and panic attacks are not a rare occurrence anymore. And all largely due to stress. 

( “Around 1 in 6 people in Ireland will experience a mental health problem like anxiety each year, which has steadily increased over the past 20 years. It is also likely that individuals do not seek help for significant levels of anxiety, meaning many remain without diagnosis or treatment.” from mentalhealthireland.ie )

So how does breathing affect our health?

Most of our days we spend taking short breaths, mostly into our chest. Not filling the lungs fully with air. If you haven't been paying much attention to your breath take a moment to observe your breathing. Do you inhale fully? Does your diaphragm contract and move downwards so your belly expands? Or does it stay where it is and your shoulders rise? If this is the case, you have forgotten how to breath. Society and stress have won; and do you really want them to have the upper hand over your health?

If you are like the majority of people who have unlearnt how to breath, you probably are prone to physical symptoms like tension in your shoulders and neck, headaches, trouble sleeping, tingly fingers and maybe even are prone to catching a cold regularly? How do I know this you wonder? Well it's actually quite simple when we look into how the body works. 

We have a sympathetic and a parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system is our Fight /Flight Mode. You know, when we are running away from tigers or having to meet a deadline at work. During the day we spend most of our time in sympathetic state, being active and alert. In this state our adrenal glands continuously produce the stress hormone cortisol. And yes cortisol actually  is super important for us to get things done, but moderation is key here. During night time or when we take time to relax, we switch into the Parasympathetic state of being. This is our Rest and Digest mode. When we are unable to ‘switch off’ or have trouble falling asleep, our body can’t switch from sympathicus to parasympathicus.

Now where comes breathing into this?

Deep diaphragmatic breathing helps to regulate our nervous system and assists in switching off our Fight/Flight mode. How, you ask again? Again the answer is quite simple once you understand the science beind it.

We have parasympathetic receptors in the lower part of our lungs  which are directly connected to our brain. When we start to take slow, deep breaths, all the way down to our lower rib cavities, we fill our lungs fully what activate these receptors. This sends a signal to the brain, telling it to switch from fight mode into rest & digest mode. In short, no diaphragmatic breath, no real relaxation. Correct breathing, good relaxation. And yes it is as simple as it sounds.

So now let’s talk about Anxiety and Breathing.

To understand how breathing can help with anxiety we now look at what stress does in our brains. You now already know, that when we are in Sympathetic mode, our body constantly produces Cortisol, a stress hormone. And the more stressed we are, the more cortisol is being produced which affects different parts of our brain. (Btw too much of this can cause adrenal fatigue, or commonly known as burn out.)

We have an area in our brain called the Hippocampus, this area is part of our limbic system and hugely important for rational thinking and memory. Cortisol abets the Hippocampus to get smaller. (This is known as Hippocampal Atrophy) Contrary to this there is an area called the Amygdala, this is our center for emotions and feelings, including these of fear. Cortisol abets this area to grow (Amygdala Hypertrophy). And this ups the change for anxiety and panic attacks. At the same time stress causes a contraction of the diaphramgs – our main muscle for breathing – and our breath becomes even shorter.

What can you do yourself?

By deep diaphragmic breathing we send signals via the receptors in the lower parts of our lungs to stimulate the activation of our rest and digest nervous system. Conscious breathing in meditation or Yoga (in Yoga we call this practice ‘Pranayama’) can help to heal, regenerate and reprogram the brain again. Simultaneously it will reduce the physical impact of stress (weak immune system, less blood circulation to organs, decreased digestion and metabolism, higher blood pressure etc..) and also helps you to cope with stress in a healthier way.

One simple practice to get started is:

(Taken from Harvard Health)

• Lie on your back on a flat surface (or in bed) with your knees bent. You can use a pillow under your head and your knees for support, if that's more comfortable.

• Place one hand on your upper chest and the other on your belly, just below your rib cage.

• Breathe in slowly through your nose, letting the air in deeply, towards your lower belly. The hand on your chest should remain still, while the one on your belly should rise.

• Tighten your abdominal muscles and let them fall inward as you exhale through pursed lips. The hand on your belly should move down to its original position.

You can also practice this sitting in a chair, with your knees bent and your shoulders, head, and neck relaxed. Practice for five to 10 minutes, several times a day if needed.

About Craniosacral Therapy

Written By nomi kreiser

The research on Craniosacral Rhythm and developing Craniosacral therapy goes back to two Doctors called Sutherland and Still. They were the first discovered that there is movement in bones of the skull. This movement is actually an expansion of the brain due to production of a clear liquid called the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

The craniosacral rhythm is also called our primary breathing - it already exists in our fetal state, so before we start lung breathing. A rhythmic movement of the cranium due to liquid (CSF) movement. This production and reabsorption of liquor is a wave like movement, in a 3-5 second rhythm for each face. Dr Sutherland called this a “tide like” movement.  We have an expansion of the cranial bones in the production state (flexion) and in extension state this liquid is being reabsorbed and released down the spinal cord into the body. This movement is so small, you won’t be able to see this with your eye, but with a little practice we can feel or palpate this movement.

This is where a good manual therapist can find out, if here is an issue in movement, production or absorption (often there can be compressions in certain parts) and treat this successfully. We can work on releasing the tissue and the nervous system. Craniosacral therapy can be extremely efficient with treating concentration problems, migraines, cranial nerve pain, Tinnitus and after head injuries.

Another amazing way craniosacral therapy can do is put you into a state we call “Still Point”. A state of calm, that resets your system and aids healing. You can think of it like a computer, “Did you turn it off and on again?”. That’s what it can do to your brain. There are a few ways you can get to this phase yourself, but we get into it in another article.