Health Series
Only those who know how to breathe will survive.
~Pundit Acharya
In 2019 end, I faced a severe creativity mental block -my usual self is pretty imaginative and funny which was nowhere to be found. I was not able to focus on any task with 100 % attention. With the season’s end holidays approaching, I took a break from everything and spent a bit of time with myself in the mountains. After that break of self analyzation, I was back rejuvenated and my creative juices were yet again flowing. What was wrong?
I was utterly stressed! Stress can have pretty bad effects on your physiology, but the bright side is it can be reversed by a few lifestyle changes.
Here’s a pictorial representation of the two predominant nervous systems in the human body-
High durations of stress can trigger the sympathetic nervous system which gives rise to a FIGHT OR FLIGHT response. Also, a hormone called cortisol is released when you are stressed which causes mood swings, anxiety, weight gain, muscle weakness, and many other adverse effects.
Many times you will find yourself in a highly stressed state when thinking rationally is just not possible. Prefrontal Cortex is part of the brain that is responsible for logical thinking and stress tends to impair it. This makes it very difficult for you to even think straight, let alone make reasonable decisions for yourself.
I have good news for you- Breathing Techniques can help you find a way out of stress and that’s backed by science. How?
Your breathing patterns resonate with your emotions- feeling joyful will make your breath regular, deep, and slow; whereas anger or anxiety will make your breath irregular, short, and fast.
So, you can reverse engineer the process- when you follow a breathing pattern specific to an emotion, you’re likely to feel the corresponding emotion.
Conscious and deep breathing can regulate the parasympathetic nervous system and quieten our ‘Fight or Flight’ reactiveness.
SKY Breath Meditation– Sudarshan Kriya Yoga, aka SKY Breath Meditation is a rhythmic breathing technique that brings the mind and body into a meditative state. Research into the SKY technique has proven that prolactin, an emotional well-being hormone increases, while the stress hormone cortisol is lowered by its regular practice. This realigns the energy and frequency of mind and body thus making you feel a lot better.
Diaphragmatic Breathing– This breathing technique emphasizes engaging your diaphragm while taking deep and slow breaths. The diaphragm is the muscle that sits below the lungs and provides them support, vagus nerve the longest nerve in the body connects from the brain to the gut which gets stimulated and triggers the parasympathetic response thus uplifting your mood. You can refer to this video to understand more about how to perform Diaphragmatic breathing. This can also, relieve any kind of gastrointestinal disorder.
Closing Note:
Life is short and we need to learn everything in our control to stay stress-free. There’s an ancient Chinese technique called Qigong Meditation, practicing it releases tension from the head, and also helps in relaxing.
Adapt all the techniques that will push you to a happy and fulfilling life as all of us need to find ways that give us happiness. You need to put in the effort to stay happy, as it’s not an automatic process.
Hi friend, if you liked this article do share it with your friends and family to benefit from it. Happy living 🙂
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